


Dark Fox

by flyingnightwing



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Angst, Canon-Typical Violence, F/M, Fluff, Idiots being in love, League!Reader, Swearing, The League of Assassins (DCU), identity crisis... kinda, somewhat hurt/comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-08
Packaged: 2021-03-14 22:40:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 7
Words: 32,820
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29303619
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/flyingnightwing/pseuds/flyingnightwing
Summary: You’re torn in between your heart and your head, who you are and what you aren’t, right or wrong for yourself. The answer is so close you can taste it, but you can’t help but doubt.
Relationships: Jason Todd/Reader, Red Hood/Reader
Kudos: 22





	1. Chapter 1

“They don’t know what’s coming for them” **  
**

You waited in the shadows, still and patient, watching the gang of thugs hyping themselves for their takeover.

“No cops, no swat team, no _fucking vigilante_ will be able to stop us!”

Cheers went around the group, their military grade firearms raised in the air. All the big fists of Kiev’s underground criminal network were there, ready to storm the city. It had been a carefully crafted plan that had started with buying the right people, then diverting NATO’s shipment to pro-america extremists to feed the anti-russian movement. Tonight was the night the final blow would strike, with a takeover.

“The city is ours, boys!” The leader shouted. “Take what’s yours, and kill the rest!”

That was your cue. As they began running out of the warehouse, you dropped from the ceiling to block their path. You were alone, but the surprise made them all halt nonetheless. 

“Who the fuck are you?" 

Your eyes found the leader. "You are operating on a territory that is not yours, Dmitri Liyanov” You spoke through your mask, which was distorting your voice without making it any less clear. “Ra’s Al Ghul is not pleased with your defiance”

He narrowed his eyes, then relaxed and laughed. “So he sent his little pet alone to confront me about it?” He mocked condescendingly, and with a hand gesture, all firepower in the room pointed to you. “In case you haven’t noticed, you’re outgunned”

You didn’t move an inch, your eyes only trailed on the goon that had taken a step forward, ready to end you. You weren’t worried, especially since you caught the movement of the fifteen other shadows silently dropping from the ceiling, unbeknownst to the forty or something goons all facing you.

“Alright boys, let’s end this–”

“Oh, you don’t wanna do that” A casual, laughing voice then echoed behind you. Your eyes widened in frustration as you recognized too well the intruder. _Fuck._ “The second you fire that gun, you have fifteen plus one super ninjas cutting you to pieces”

And with that, all hell broke loose. 

You threw a Shuriken in the thugs’ throat and one that sticked into Liyanov’s eye, before spinning around and blocking the oncoming dagger over your head with your forearm brace spikes. You paused there for a few seconds, glaring at the red mask looming over you.

_Todd._

“Missed me?” The smirk could be heard in his voice. _Of course he’s show up now_.

You grabbed a blade in your belt and slashed forward, missing him by inches in his quick drawback. You hadn’t expected fighting your equal tonight, but the thrill of a fair fight flared in your veins. The exchanges of hits was swift and graceful, like a river running down it’s course. You barely grazed each other, as both of your training was sufficient to plan exactly the other’s next move. The question was now about who would make the first mistake. 

He backed you up against a wall, you used the crates to propel you up and come down on him. He blocked your motion, you dropped the blade down in your left hand to attack his open side. But before it could reach him, a quick manoeuvre sent you over his shoulder. You recovered the fall with a roll and went at him again, but the movement of Liyanov trying to get up and run caught your eyes. It effectively distracted you, and before you knew it, Jason’s foot collided violently with your stomach. 

It sent you flying back and rolling ungracefully on your stomach a few feet away. You heard a laugh as you groaned, slowly pushing yourself off the ground. You had forgotten the sheer power of his muscles when catching you off guard. You raised one knee as you caught your breath, glaring at Jason. There was laughter behind his eyes, but he wasn’t the one making the sound. Your eyes slid over to Liyanov, who was watching the show.

“Seems like I have some people protecting my interests”

You raised your arm, fist pointed straight at him and shot a small barbed arrow straight to his hand. His laughter turned into screams of pain, but you tuned him out easily. _Who’s laughing now?_

“I’m not done with you” You rasped at him, then pulled yourself up, feet apart and shoulders straight. You faced Jason, now angry and determined.

“Sweet upgrade” He whistled, nodding at your arm “And for the record, I was here to kill him too, but you’re far more entertaining”

You didn’t answer just yet, you only pulled your sword slowly out of the sheath on your back. You knew that you’d have to bring out the big guns against him.

“Oh I see” He hummed in amusement. “Drawing the sword, for old times’ sake”

In a few seconds the metal of your weapons was clashing. It reminded you of all the sparring you did with him, when Talia sent you to him to train with him under Ra’s radar. It reminded you of the first time you had put Jason on his back when he was fresh out of the pit, and how he never could beat you with a sword. 

You were light on your feet, making sure that his wider range didn’t get you into a leg sweep. He was trying to bring the fight to close range–closer than it could be possible with swords–so he would fall into the one type of combat he actually beat you at. But you could see his game and you refused to give in. 

You knew your strengths as well as his and there was no way you’d let the favor switch to him.

So when his long arms sneaked around and got you into a headlock, you threw all fairness out of the window and rose up your left forearm, shooting the same hidden crossbow you had used against Liyanov. Jason jumped back to avoid the arrow piercing through his jaw and was forced to let you go in the process.

“That’s cheating” He tsked as you circled each other. You shot three more arrows, which he all dodged and broke mid air. “Really?”

“You’re in my way” You only said, suppressing the emotion from your voice. You refused to admit you were holding back, and that you only wasted your small quiver because you knew none of them would hit him. But you still had a job to do, and not even him could stop you.

“Is that a warning?” He snorted. “Because you’ll have to do more than that to convince m- _fuck_ ”

You interrupted him with a distraction flash bang and took the moment to attack. He was quick enough to recover on time and block your blade before it slashed his arm, but not enough to have the upper hand in the fight. He was forced into a totally defensive stance as you left him no space to attack. You sped up your hits, so much that his helmet cracked and came flying off. The next moment, your blade swung at his neck–he closed his eyes when he understood your next move– but came to a dry stop as it touched his skin. 

The world froze. There you both were, breathing heavily in the silence of the warehouse. He opened his eyes, like he knew you wouldn’t do it. Still, there was this glint in his eyes, like he dared you to finish your motion. 

“You could at least look at me directly” He muttered. “Unless you’re too afraid”

Slowly, you pulled off your mask, showing him your full face. It’s not like there was anybody around who didn’t know who you were under the black hood of the league, and for Liyanov, he wouldn’t leave this warehouse alive to tell on you. 

“You’ve changed” He remarked.

“So did you” You replied sternly. But he didn’t, not really. He was still handsome, and a distraction to your work. So you raised your sword, like you would swing down, but instead took his inattention to deliver a round kick at the exact same place he did to you. He flew backwards, and in the middle of his fall, you loaded a sedative dart in your forearm crossbow. You shot him in the neck, and by the time his back hit the ground, he was out. 

You watched him for a few more seconds before you turned away and walked to Liyanov. His left eye was now a red mess, no doubt it would have been lost had you let him live. His hand was still stuck to the wooden crate, and he was muttering incoherent things. _Probably overwhelmed by the pain,_ you thought. He looked at you with his one good eye, silently pleading you to end him.

_How easy it was to break a weak man’s spirit._

Without a word, you pressed the tip of your sword to his throat and pushed, then slowly pulled back out. You wiped the metal on the inside of your folded elbow and sheathed it back, watching Liyanov choke on his blood and die not so long after. You lifted your head and turned to your team. 

“ _Linadhhab_ ” You ordered to your team as you slipped your mask back on, and left the scene.

—-

_You never talked._

_Despite sharing a hut, meals and basically both of your personal space, words were rarely used in between you. He was always brooding, angry and miserable. And you? Well, you didn’t feel the need to speak unless it was to correct his form, or to tell him to do the work all over again. He hated you for that, and you hated that you were there because of him. You would have done anything for Talia, but you felt conflicted about betraying Ra’s. You knew this could happen when you agreed to become her right hand, but you didn’t expect for it to happen because of an unstable, revengeful boy she rescued._

_The rain was pouring nails over the mountain. It was cold and seeping through your clothes, yet still you were outside, circling Jason. There was fury in his eyes, directed at you, at the rain, at the world. Yet, he couldn’t control his swing. You had tried to teach him the art of Katana for days now, but he would always be too rash, to much in a hurry to end things. And the pit clearly didn’t help, giving him muscle strength he had not the discipline to control._

_“Again”_

_He leaped at you, and despite his enhanced speed, you saw his attack coming from miles away. You swatted him and sent him to a tree trunk, his sword falling out of his hands. He was both panting and shaking from the cold, or anger, or both. He slowly got back got his feet, jaw clenched and knuckles white._

_“Again”_

_“Fuck you!” He exploded, walking toward you angrily. You stood your ground. “What’s the point of this, uh? Make me catch a fucking pneumonia?”_

_“You need to learn control” You simply said, and that made him even angrier._

_“I don’t need fucking control!” He yelled. “I’m strong enough to break your bones”_

_“Try”_

_He didn’t like the challenge, and even less when you side stepped all of his attacks. He was skilled, but he was getting tired and numb in the rain. And his rage made him way too predictable. You only pushed him when he tried to go for your neck, knowing a chokehold from him was the one thing you wouldn’t get out of._

_“Fight back god dammit!”_

_So you did. A few moves and you had him in checkmate, your blade on his neck. It didn’t stop the fuming in his eyes, nor the venom in his words._

_“I know why you’re here” He croaked. “You’re stalling me. Talia is stalling me from getting justice for my death. Because that’s what you do, you hide behind a mask to hide the fact that you’re only glorified hitmen, and that you’re afraid to face your own incapacity to change a goddamn thing in the world”_

_You waited a second before drawing back your sword, your eyes never leaving his._

_“That’s enough for today”_

_You watched him retreat in frustration toward the hut up the tree, pondering over his words. It was the first time he had talked that much, and you’d be lying if it didn’t make you reflect on it more than you cared to admit._

—–

You never understood the need for luxury. 

The suite that had been reserved for your fake identity was way too spacious for comfort, and so full of things you didn’t need. It only made it harder, more straining on you. Smaller spaces were easier to control and to securise, and you knew what to expect. nothing– nobody could lurk when you were at sword range of _everything_. 

But unfortunately, your given identity was most of the time part of the higher class, as money could buy silence better than force. Nobody would dare look for a serial killer in a five star hotel, and if there was suspicions, it would be swept under the rug with any organized crime business the elite conducted. The cover was perfect, but it still made you restless.

As soon as you sneaked back in your room, you went straight to your suitcase and threw it on the bed. With a hiss, you peeled off your mask and league uniform, to reveal a red gash on your arm where Jason’s blade got you. You hadn’t noticed before a few minutes ago, when the adrenaline died down. You sighed and began cleaning it up, then applied a bandage to it. It wasn’t deep enough for it to need stitches, but you would still be careful.

Then, you sewed back up your sleeve. It had had other slashes that you could only see their patchwork from up close, sewn back with a large thread the exact same shade of the black leather. 

Next was your shower, to wash down the sweat and the grime and the dried blood. IT was the first one you had in a week, and your first hair wash in twice as much time. The undoing of your braids hurt, and you couldn’t wait to get under water You liked your showers burning hot, it made you feel alive. You had grown up in the desert, after all, and despite your exposure during your training, you hated the cold. You could barely stand it, as a matter of fact. But you’d never show this to Ra’s, it was a weakness which he would try to repress with more cold. 

The steam following you out of the shower clouded the bathroom. You reached for your night kimono and wrapped it around you, the black satin clinging to the dampness of your skin. You dried your hair with a towel and brushed your teeth before going back to the suite. There you folded your black league suit and carefully arranged your weapon on the table. You were almost done when the hairs on the back of your neck stood up, and a shiver went down your spine.

Half a second later, you felt _his_ presence close behind you. Your head rose up slowly, yet you didn’t make another move. You simply waited as he did, listening to the almost inaudible sound of his breathing. You didn’t know if he had a weapon close by, and your hand was still at reaching distance from yours. And yet, there was no threat lingering in the air. It was almost… Comforting. 

And you wanted it to stop.

“After all this time…” Jason’s voice was a whisper, meant for you and only you. “All I get is an ass kicking and a sedative?”

It wasn’t angry, it wasn’t playful. It sounded disappointed, if anything. You felt a pang in your heart that was there no matter how hard you tried to push it away. You hadn’t seen him in years, and his sheer presence was already messing with your head. _Why did he show up again?_

“What else was I supposed to give you?” Your voice wasn’t much louder. His smell clouded your senses and you so wanted to give in, but you had to resist your instinct. It would be your downfall again if you did.

“You’re still angry” He stated, his fingers barely grazing the skin of your neck in a ghost of a caress. It gave you goosebumps, so much you had to close your eyes. His touch was always your weakness when it came to him. 

No matter how cold his skin would get.

“You’re the one who left” You turned your head to the side to catch a glimpse of him behind you. Your voice betrayed your own feelings as it hitched at the end. He moved in your field of vision, his hand gently trailing your neck to cup your cheek. You sighed and leaned in, despite your inner protests. 

“I had to go” He repeated the same thing he had told you three years ago. “You could have come with me. You didn’t have to–”

You didn’t have to stay with _them,_ you completed for him in your head. You’ve had this argument already, and you were tired. 

“I did. Ra’s–Talia gave me everything” You replied. “The league is the only way. I must stay loyal”

“No you don’t” His face was closer to you know, so much you felt with breath on your lips. “They won’t help you, you know this inside. Come with me”

He knew your secrets, your goals, your drive; it was impossible to lie to him. You had opened yourself like a book to him, and now he had power over you. Over your feelings and your thoughts, and while your heart wished nothing more than to surrender, your head kept pulling you back. And for a moment, you did. You pressed your lips against his, softly and quietly. It felt just as you remembered. But reality caught up with you again and you pulled away. 

“I’m sorry” You breathed, turning away from him. “I can’t leave. Not when I’m this close”

“Okay” He took a step back, nodding to himself. “If you change your mind, I’ll be there”

The next time you turned around, he was gone.

——

Only a few lights were still open in the Gotham division of LexCorp that late at night. The guard on shift didn’t even bother scolding the over zealous technician still inside, as he found it was no use to get him out of there at reasonable hours. He was always working on something, some small, insignificant detail. It _always_ had to be perfect.

“No, why are you always doing this to me” The tech whined out loud, even though there was no other colleague to entertain him. “Please remain calm”

He would always say some weird stuff, but that night he seemed more agitated that usual. The security guard paused, making a face at the crazy tech.

“That’s it that’s it” He nodded to himself. “See? You can do it”

The guard squinted his eyes, before scoffing and walking away. “Fucking weirdo” 

The tech kept working like the guard never passed by. In fact, he hadn’t even noticed when he did. He was close to the solution of his problem, of why the damn machine would not start. Well he _knew_ why it wouldn’t start; a disbalance in the molecular component triggered the fail safe. He just had to find the right element to add without messing up the entire thing…

“Dear Lord” He gasped, looking a his microscope, then at his notes. Then back at his microscope. “I found it. I FOUND IT!”

A few miles away, two people watched the feed of the tech laughing to himself and celebrating. One had a smirk, the other an incredulous expression.

“I’ll be damned” The latest mumbled. “The fool really did it”

“So it seems” The other hummed in agreement. “We can now proceed to the next step”


	2. Chapter 2

_You always sat up straight.  
_

_With your legs folded under you and your back in a perfect line, you tended to the small fire and the teapot over it. Jason was observing you, his ever present scowl still judging you. He sat with his legs crossed in front of him, slouching. You had decided you wouldn’t waste time in correcting his posture, because you doubted he would ever apply this in his lifetime._

_With a cloth, you removed the teapot from the heat and carefully poured it in the two cups in front of you. It had been hard to even get him to the tea part, only when fall had gotten colder he had begrudgingly agreed to drink the hot beverage with you. He was still shaking from being in the rain so long without any form of waterproof suit. You handed him his cup, catching the very subtle thank you nod sent in your direction._

_You didn’t comment on it, although you were surprised he even did thank you. Gratitude wasn’t part of Jason’s range of emotion, not since he got out of the pit anyway. You sipped your tea in silence, with only the sound of the rain crashing down on the trees around you. That until…_

_“How old are you?”_

_You raised an eyebrow at the question, both surprised by the fact that he talked to you and the content itself of the question._

_“Age is just a milestone of the physical body. It does not matter” You answered and he frowned in frustration. You sighed, figuring out you could entertain this one question, if it could make him less disagreeable._

_“But if you must know, I was born twenty one years ago”_

_His eyes widened, then annoyance settled in._

_“So they sent a kid to teach me?” He scoffed. “You’re barely older than me”_

_“Yet I’ve been training with the league for 13 years” You replied sternly. You did not like the challenge. “Age is meaningless. Experience makes what you are”_

_Jason did not expect that. If you had been training with the league for 13 years… It meant you had begun at 8. His scowl disappeared for an instant as he realized he could respect your experience. But nothing more._

_You thought he was done with the question, but apparently that first opened the door. His curiosity about you had been stirred, as he didn’t understand how an eight years old ended up in the league. He had had this idea that people seeking the league were trying to run from a problem, and by putting the mask on, they asked Ra’s Al Ghul to make it disappear in exchange of their lives and soul. They were cowards, in his eyes. But an eight years old didn’t have that kind of problem yet. But he wouldn’t ask that straight away, because he couldn’t gauge your reaction to the question. He could gauge anything about you._

_“Did the league teach you survival skills?” He asked instead, pointing at the hut. You had built the shelter, you took care of the fire, you hunted for food and prepared it. Jason wasn’t helpless either, but he wouldn’t have been able to do it that efficiently._

_“No” You replied simply. “I had to teach myself. The League merely released us in different environments, sometimes for months, and we had to find a way to survive”_

_Arabian desert, russian tundra in winter, chinese forests in rainy season, you had done it all._

_“And what if you couldn’t?” He asked the question he already knew the answer to._

_“You died” You shrugged as you poured the rest of the tea equally in both cups. “Many did, actually. The League seeks the strongest amongst us. This exercise had the double purpose of giving us useful skills and weed out the weak”_

_“That’s fucked up"_

_You didn’t answer that. You only watched as he drank the rest of his tea and retired to the rope hammock suspended a few feet further. You didn’t go to sleep right away, staying by the fire and staring at the weak flames, thinking._

—-

You had to give it to Talia, she knew how to pick her meeting spots. The museum was grandiose, and conveniently, closed for private business; that business being yours and Talia’s. But then again, it was an unnecessary luxury. You nodded at the guard that opened the door for you and made your way inside, your footsteps echoing on the marble floor. You were more than aware of the league members hidden in the corners, moving out of your vision field as you walked forward. Talia was probably already made aware of your arrival, which is why you didn’t bother announcing your presence when you finally found her in front of painting. She was looking at the huge frame when you halted beside her.

“I heard what happened yesterday” 

You glanced at her. Her eyes were still on the picture in front of her.

“Everything’s been taken care of” You said, dodging the implication of her words. “The order was fulfilled despite the interruption”

She remained silent, her breath even. She looked down, then up at the painting again, then at you. “I’m not talking about my father’s task for you” 

She would know, obviously. She knew you inside out, and she knew Jason as well. She was aware of your dynamic, how you worked. It didn’t come as a surprise that somehow she found out of his second visit to you. Now it was a matter of time before she asked _the_ question.

“Did he ask you again?”

There it was. 

“Yes” You nodded, casting your glance forward. “I told him I couldn’t”

You felt her stare turn sad. Talia loved you like a younger sister, one that she chose and that she could love. She was a teenager when you had been taken in by the League, and instantly she had known she would protect you. She understood why you refused Jason again, because you were as attached as her as she was to you. But there was something in between her two protégés that she couldn’t ignore either, a bond forged with time and patience and shared pain that resulted in a devotion to the other she had rarely seen. But you were holding back, and she knew all too well why.

She reached in her bag and handed you a folder, which you took carefully. 

“This is what I could find about the project from my contacts” She explained. “I can’t do more I’m afraid, the League cannot be found to be involved”

You opened the folder to see photographs and files of people; lab techs and businessmen alike. Job descriptions, previous experiences, ties to each other. And finally, at the bottom, a blueprint of a LexCorps prototype, a small biotech machine you doubted would be used for good reasons. But nevertheless, it finally gave traction to your chase. You could work with that, you only needed to track it to… 

“Gotham” You muttered as you read where the prototype was stored. 

“You’ll need help for this” She added, and you knew who she was referencing to, specifically. You took a deep breath and nodded. “I’m serious, you can’t do this alone. He has enough resources to help you, and he will. You know he will”

“Yeah” You agreed, your voice suddenly distant. You had never thought you’d have to involve Jason in your quest, he had enough on his shoulders. But at the same time, who else could you ever trust with it? 

“But?” She could always call out your reluctance.

“But I’m afraid that if I go…” You trailed off, meeting her eyes once again. “I won’t want to come back”

She smiled warmly at you. You were afraid to break your loyalty to her, to let her down. You were afraid of what you would find there.

“Then if the path you take leads you away, it will be what’s meant to be” She reassured with a hand on your shoulder. “Don’t worry about this. I’ll take care of it if it comes to that”

You returned her smile. “Thank you, Talia” You bowed you head slightly. “For everything”

With that, you turned around and left. Talia returned to her observation of the painting, sighing.

——

_The clearing was still. There was no wind, no cloud, no wildlife running around. Only the sound of metal clashing under the first ray of sun of the day, and the grunts of effort coming from Jason. He was focused, more than usual. You had more trouble catching him off guard and forcing him on the defensive, or even finding an opening to sweep his feet. You saw he was struggling to restrain his anger, which was honestly an improvement. It wasn’t perfect, he had still a lot to learn about controlling the inhumane force he had been given. But it wasn’t pathetic, and you wondered what made him change idea about your methods._

_You had also stopped wearing your mask when you trained, in an attempt to make an effort to meet him in the middle. It had always bothered him, angered him even more. Ra’s never let him men remove their mask when you began training, saying it would make the whole thing personal if they did. Attachment was never good as a member of the League, but you weren’t there right now. He wasn’t training for Ra’s, but to control himself. And you understood soon enough he’d never let you teach him if you kept fueling his anger for nothing._

_But he was getting frustrated again at your strategy. You went from occasionally attacking to a passive defense, knowing it would rile him up. You still knew how to push his buttons, and you would do it all over again until the day he understood. His jaw clenched and unclenched, his nostrils flared up as he picked up the pace._

_It wasn’t the day._

_In his haste to beat you, his restraint evaporated, leaving his movements once again sloppy and uncalculated. It wasn’t hard to knock the sword out of his hand, sending it flying backward. But he didn’t stop, he only grabbed yours by the blade and threw it aside as well. Before you knew it, his fist collided with your cheek. You blinked as your body registered the pain, wiping the wetness dripping down your nose. It was bright red on your glove. Your eyes trailed up his tense form to settle on his face, then his eyes. Your fingers flexed in restraint against engaging in close combat with him, even though you wished nothing more than to beat his attitude down. But you wouldn’t win this one. So you waited for the explosion that would come, and come it did._

_In a flash, you jumped back to avoid his hook punch, then his uppercut. You rolled to avoid his kick, but you didn’t see his hand coming up to grab your throat and slam you back into a tree trunk. His hand was tight on your throat, but his rage blinded him to the knife you drew out from your belt. In a quick motion, you slashed his forearm. He retracted it, and released your throat at the same time. You jumped out of the way and stopped out of his range in a guarded position. You saw the defiance in his eyes, as well as the satisfaction._

_“Next time you pull that shit, the blade goes through” You warned, sheathing your blade in your belt once again._

_“Are you angry?” He taunted, and you realized what he was doing. You were pissed and he knew it. Well, he’d get what he ask for._

_You crouched and picked both swords that had been discarded, then threw one at him. “I showed you what restraint looked like. Lesson over” You wiped the blood from your face once again, carefully watching his reaction. “Now you get to learn what’s channeled anger”_

_Whatever he expected, it hadn’t prepared him for the beating he was about to receive._

——

Jason didn’t _need_ Batman.

Or Dick, or anyone for that matter. His ego had won the best of him when Bruce admitted he needed his help on the sting operation he was building, so he agreed. Of course, that meant his adoptive father would have to respect his terms, since he asked for him first. But the matter was so important, such a priority to neutralize that it didn’t matter to the Bat. Red Hood could go awol when the time came, as long as he didn’t make an attention attractive mess before they could get to the final phase of their master plan. It didn’t please Bruce that was for sure, but they were already short handed and it was a miracle Jason even agreed to work again with his adoptive family.

Still, it didn’t change the fact that he would get back into his old habits and gleefully jump from rooftop to rooftop like a happy family. He was still hell bent on working solo, and no truce would come mess that up. So that’s how he ended up all alone with his own ego on a recon mission to LexCorps. A partner would have only been in his way, slowing him down and pissing him off. He had his own way of doing things and he liked it like that.

But Jason being Jason, he often acted before thinking, which never paired well in delicate operations like this one. He was getting intel on a project lead by one of the most paranoid control freak with a knack for sparing no expenses to make sure punks like him didn’t get their hands on his stuff.

But he was proud of himself this time. He had sneaked in like a master spy and bypassed all the security like a goddamn pro to get to the lab. Although, he hadn’t expected it to find it very much occupied by more than forty lab techs and a _shit ton_ of armed guards. There was supposed to be no one but the regular night shift and this one harmless tech, said the intel. 

Well, the intel was dead wrong apparently. 

He crouched, still in the shadows of the second floor. He watched through the rail the buzzing of the staff around what he recognized to be the very thing the whole operation was put in place to stop. He noticed with half frustration and half horror that it seemed very functional, again, to contradict the documents that said it was still in developing phase. Which meant, he and his jolly bunch of vigilante were on the clock. 

“Fuck” He muttered to himself. “Fuck fuck fuck–”

He felt the barrel of a gun being pressed to the back of his neck, interrupting his string of curse. 

“Don’t move”

He could take him, he knew. He would just have to be quicker and… _Ah, fuck_. A spotlight was pointed his way, quite literally, as everyone in the lab turned toward him with gasps. Shortly after, three red dots appeared on his chest, and he had no idea where they came from. 

_Because he was fucking blinded._

And surrounded apparently, as he heard boots running toward him. 

“We got him, boss”

_Great. Just great._


	3. Chapter 3

“We got him, boss”

Jason sighed, knowing he’d have to kill his way out of this one. That meant he’d use his killing allowed wildcard for the rest of the mission and he wasn’t particularly thrilled about it. He would already get the lecture about exposing they were on the case, and Batman wouldn’t let him hear the end of it. 

“Guys, guys” He tried to buy himself some time to come up with an execution plan. “We’re all friends here, aren’t we?”

“Shut up” One more gun was pointed at him, this time in his face. 

“Come on man, I’m just a guy who–”

The lights went off. Jason didn’t know how, because he hadn’t been the one to cut the power, but he certainly didn’t waste the small window of opportunity to get out of the shooting line and disarm the man in front of him. He shot him, then the man behind him who had held him at gunpoint by the neck. He could hear running and screaming, orders being barked and the platoon around him moving. He turned around, ready to shoot whoever was there, but he found… Nothing. He adjusted his night vision lenses and only saw three more bodies around. 

Each ones with a black arrow stuck in their chest. 

Your feet were light when you landed behind him, like a shadow forming out of the darkness in the red emergency light glow. But he had heard you, his hearing was fine enough to detect the subtlest movement. From behind you could see the reflection of his red helmet, a new one that wasn’t cracked. He turned slowly to come face to face with you. 

“You couldn’t stay away for too long, could you?" 

You gave your answer by shooting an arrow at the provenance of yet another infrared line pointed at him, not looking away the whole time. But you knew you had hit your target, because you heard a body fall down the rail and onto the first floor. 

"We have three squads like this one headed this way” You informed him. “And I’d rather not waste any more arrows”

“Then let’s blow this popsicle stand”

“This way”

You ran through the first doorway to your left, knowing you would have an escape route there. You had learned the blueprint by heart, so you went toward where there were the most exit options. But soon enough, the motion sensor alerts your had configured on your watch vibrated, letting you know the squads were closing in. You stopped at the junction of three hallways, evaluating the situation. Jason practically bumped into you, cursing under his breath.

“Why are you stopping here?” He asked, looking in between the three corridors while you glanced up for a second. _Bingo_.

“They’re too close, it’ll be easier to get out here” 

“Easier–” He narrowed his eyes in confusion. “What the fuck-”

He shut up at the glare you sent him, before going back to your plan. You loaded an explosive in your next arrow and shot the door, knowing it would buy you a few minutes by burning the digital pad. You then stepped in front of Jason and loaded a gas one and waited for the footsteps to arrive, bow drawn and aim locked.

“Hold your fire ready” You instructed, backing up so your back almost touched him. Your eyes never left your target, and soon enough, shadows began to grow in the red lights. His gun aimed over your shoulder. “And activate your smoke vision. When they go blind, cover me”

“You’re insane”

You didn’t have to respond in any other way than an eye roll when the squad rounded the corner. You shot in the crowd, the man fell down and a thick gas was released. You shot the same type of arrow on the other open hallway as you began to hear gunshots on the door you had shut down earlier. Shouts and cough echoed, then a rush to put on gas mask and find a moving target in the smoke.

Jason began shooting, angling his gun with precision. You did not see what he was shooting, since you didn’t have smoke goggles on. Instead, you aimed your next arrow at the glass ceiling and shot. 

“Fuck!” Jason yelled. 

“Stop whining” You bit back as he kept shooting around you. You tied the hook on your belt to an arrow and nocked it, aiming for the wooden structure above you. You shot right through it, then passed the wire through Jason’s belt to clip it on yours. You gave the line a tug with your bow, and it began pulling you up. You wrapped your legs around Jason and under his arms, bringing him up with you. He let out a yelp of surprise, followed by a curse, but you manage to finesse your exit before the smoke cleared. 

He grabbed the ledge of the wood a second after you did, and you pulled yourself up on the beam. You ran across it, away from the bullets and jumped a few buildings away, far enough so they couldn’t see you anymore. You made sure nobody had followed you before removing your mask. Jason did the same, hair sticking everywhere. The wind from the rooftop didn’t make it any better, but he didn’t seem to care. He only looked at you, confused as to what on Earth you could possibly be doing in Gotham alone, and as to how you found him just at the right moment, and probably as to what the hell had just went down. That had been your most dramatic exit so far. But it was the least important question of his that needed answering.

“Why are you here?” He asked, figuring out you wouldn’t speak first. You never spoke first, and that was one of the mysteries about you he had never been able to figure out.

“I need your help”

His eyes widened at your confession. You reached in your jacket and handed him the file, which he silently skimmed through, brows furrowed in concentration. Then, his features morphed into realization. You had been there at the same time as him because you had been sent on the same case he was working on. He should have expecting it, given your connection to the matter, but somehow it had never crossed his mind that you could show up. The only coincidence in this was that he had been investigating this project at the same time and place as you.

“Well, as it turns out” He began, handing you back the file. “I’m working on the same case, and my team could use your help too”

You raised an eyebrow.

“They’re not _my_ team per say” He clarified. “We’re just coming together for the sole purpose of bringing this bio-weapon down”

“How well do you know them?” You asked carefully. “And they you?”

“More than I would care to admit” He sighed. “… Everybody there is keeping secrets. Yours will be fine”

You took a moment to think his offer through. You didn’t trust that said team, but at the same time, you needed them. After what went down tonight, there was no way you could handle it alone, or even only with Jason. And if there was one person that would be willing to cover for you, it was him. It was your opportunity to go through with your plan. You looked up again and gave him a firm nod. 

He combed his hair with his hand and took a deep breath. “They seemed to have found a way to stabilize the weapon and make it work” He said, looking at the city lights on the horizon. It was a surprisingly clear night for Gotham. “They worked quicker than we had anticipated”

You had expected that turnout, since William stamm was the scientist recruited to work on the project. A brilliant mind, but his insanity cost him a nobel prize or two. He would always create monstrosities that impressed, but most of all scared people. No wonder he had been the one to work for Luthor. 

“We should head back and inform the team of the new development…” He trailed off, sending you a glance. “All of them”

“Then let’s go”

—

“Woah what the fuck”

You easily caught mid-air the shuriken thrown your way, barely blinking at the action and the rather loud exclamation. The two men in front of you were on the defensive, even after Jason made a show of sighing and throwing his arms up in annoyance. Their eyes were on you, and you held the staring contest.

“Can everybody please calm the fuck down?” Jason came to stand in the way. “Tim, put that down, _jesus_ ”

Tim reluctantly put down his shurikens. “Who’s _that_?”

“And why is she wearing the league suit?” The other man said, still eyeing you like you’d attack them at any second. You recognized this one, _Dick Grayson_. 

“It’s help” He replied vaguely. “And it’s–”

“Because I’m from the league” You replied for yourself, taking a step forward. You pushed the shuriken back on the table toward them. “But I’m not after any of you”

“Well that’s good to know” Tim snorted before glancing at Jason. “You still did blow our cover, Jaybird”

“Anyone she can tell either already knows or don’t give a shit about your stupid alter egos” Jason rolled his eyes once more. 

“Still!” 

“I called her here to help, okay?” He lied smoothly. You didn’t react, but you were glad he did cover for you. “Would you just trust me one second?”

“That would be easier if you had asked before bringing a stranger here” 

It wasn’t easy to surprise you, but the fourth person joining the conversation did. You didn’t hear him come at all, and even now that you were aware of his presence, you could barely hear his footsteps. You turned your head to the side to take a look at him; he was tall and built for combat, like everyone else in the room. But his presence occupied a lot more space, and you deducted he was the leader of this little team. 

After all, you doubted Bruce Wayne would do well as second. 

“That stranger is the reason Red Hood got out without revealing you all were involved, and with a peek at their tech” Jason argued. “Which is now very much functional and probably ready to go”

“What?” Dick rejoined the conversation. “That’s not possible”

“It is” You replied. “Stamm is known to work fast and relentlessly until he succeeds. And as your surely know it, he’s got an impressive record of building up bioengineering monsters without a care on how it’s used. I don’t have trouble believing he worked ahead of schedule”

All eyes were on you now. 

“You know him?” Bruce raised an eyebrow.

“I know of him” You nodded slightly, crossing your arms in front of you. “He wasn’t there at the lab earlier, which means he’s either already long gone, or under Luthor’s protection. He won’t risk him exposing a failsafe, that is most certain”

“How much do you know about this bio weapon?” He asked, and you could not read the intent of his question.

“Close to nothing” You admitted. “I suppose you’re not that much more ahead either”

Jason snorted, while Bruce’s eyes narrowed. Then, he relaxed.

“Well, you did do us a solid by bailing out Jason” He said, a half smile appearing on his face. “I’d be glad to have you and your skills with us on this one”

Tim choked on his coffee and Dick’s eyes went wide. You ignored their reactions, not looking away from Bruce. He offered you his hand, and after a quick glance down, you took it and shook it. There was nothing friendly about the way you felt his muscles tense, it rather was a warning. A warning that although he agreed to work with you, he did not trust you and would take you down if necessary. The message was loud and clear. 

“I am aware of the way of the League, so I must ask” He began when your hand dropped to your side again. “Have you found anywhere to stay in Gotham yet?”

“This city has no shortage of empty warehouses” You answered indirectly, and he hummed. You still weren’t sure of his intent, and you would rather not him find out of some of your lairs. 

“Well, there are also no shortage of empty rooms here” He countered, and it was your turn to narrow your eyes. “You’d be welcome to stay here. It would facilitate relaying information, and since you already know where we operate…”

“Bruce” Dick warned. 

“What do you say?”

You looked at Jason beside you. You didn’t trust Bruce, mostly because of his obvious wariness towards you. He was probably offering that to keep an eye on you, or to have better control over you. But Jason gave you an affirmative nod, and him, you trusted. So you turned your attention back to Bruce and agreed to his proposition. 

“Thank you” 

“We can take care of your things tomorrow, if you have any more than what you have one” He pointed out, knowing you didn’t have any valuable left behind. And he was right. “In the meanwhile, there are some clothes here you can change into. They should fit”

“Come on, you can’t let her wear Steph’s clothes?” Tim whined.

“Shut up Tim” Jason groaned, throwing his head back. “She doesn’t even know it’s still there”

“You shut up–”

“Alright!” He sighed, knowing Tim would never let it go. “We’ll go grab the stuff now, we’ll talk about the plan tomorrow”

“You’ll show her an empty room when you come back?” Bruce asked Jason, and the younger man nodded. “See you tomorrow, then”

“Yeah whatever” 

—–

_“That’s it”_

_You halted your steps and turned to face Jason, who was panting and affirmatively mad. Heavy snow was resting on his shoulders and head, even on his long eyelashes. His cheeks were red from the cold, making the blue of his eyes pop out. He was glaring at you, but that wasn’t new._

_“You’re doing this on purpose. There is no point in that but to piss me the fuck out” He spat. “I bet you’re liking this uh?”_

_You rolled your eyes._

_“Are you done?” You asked, your neutral expression ever present on your face. “Nightfall comes soon, and we still have some distance to go”_

_WInter had come, and you thought it was time to leave the cabin for a while to train in less than ideal conditions. You had decided to trek up the mountain to set camp on higher grounds, where the snow and wind would be a good environment to build up endurance to the elements. But as usual, Jason disagreed._

_He threw his backpack on the ground, still panting. “No, I’m not walking another step. Let’s set camp here”_

_“This blizzard is coming down strong, and by morning there will be at least a meter of snow more” You informed him. “So we’d be buried alive. So if you want to stop here, be my guest”_

_You gave him a quick smile and resumed your ascension. You heard him curse under his breath, put his backpack on again and hurry after you. He did not comment for the rest of the journey, not even when you had to climb the iced wall of rocks or take an almost inhumane leap across a fissure on the ground. He could barely stand when you finally reached the cave on the non-exposed side of the mountain, his legs aching and his hands bloody under his gloves. You let him sit down as you prepared the fire and skinned one of the rabbits you had hunted for the trip, knowing he would have to rest for the next part of the training. You remembered too well doing the same thing, biting back your pain as not to show it._

_You gave him his food as well as his personal space for a while, before you went to him again. You gestured for him to follow you, and with a groan, he stood up and limped after you. It became warmer and warmer the further you went, and down a small slope laid a round pool of steaming blue water, sculpted in the rocks by time and hydro pressure._

_“Is this a hot spring?” Jason muttered in almost awe and you nodded._

_“It’ll be good for your muscles to rest” You replied. “It’ll also warm you. Next time, don’t forget your gloves”_

_“It would be easier if I had some” He snarked back with a scoff, but you had already walked away._

_You went back to the fire and set a pot of tea, knowing you’d take it alone that night. It was strange, not to have him around. For months you had gotten used to his presence, usually silent but there nevertheless. You liked to think as tea time as neutral ground, where whatever happened during training was put aside for a quarter of hour to decompress in peace. It made you realized you might have felt bad for the blisters on his palms and the almost frost bites he had gotten. But you were glad to see his progress with how he handled it, that being with a minimum of curses and complaining. A few weeks ago only he would have surely taken your head off for that. Granted, this little trip was far from over and there was still time for him to do so, but the worst was behind you._

_You went out and cleaned the pot with snow, and put it in a corner with the rest of your stuff. You added some wood to the fire to keep it going and took off your jacket, hood and boots to have them dry nearby. You did the same with your pants and other layers, until all was left was your thermal protection. You went straight in the direction of the hot spring and put your remaining clothes on a rock, before you walked in the water._

_Jason’s eyes went wide._

_“What are you doing?”_

_You didn’t answer straight away, you only tilted your head slightly to the side. Was he… Uncomfortable? Unsettled? Nervous, even?_

_“Enjoying the hot spring”_

_“I– I’m already here” He argued, but he didn’t seem very confident in it. “Naked. And so are you”_

_“… And?” You raised an eyebrow, relaxing in the hot water. He went to say something else, but he closed his mouth and sank a bit more in the water. You enjoyed the sound of the cave in silence, the echo of the water reflecting on the rock walls, the creaking and groaning of the ice and snow outside, not oblivious to Jason’s wary eyes on you. It was like he was expecting you to pull a sword out of thin air and attack him._

_“It’s just I’ve never seen you wear any less than three layers of clothing, that’s all” He grumbled under his breath. “It’s weird. You seem smaller”_

_It was your turn to widen your eyes, slowly._

_“Smaller?” You repeated. He mumbled a whatever, and it was the end of this conversation. Jason seemed to untense gradually in his corner, getting to the idea of you there as well._

_You could see the scars and bruises on his upper body. The gash in his shoulder from your sword had healed nicely, leaving a lightly scabbed red mark. There were a few silver marks around as well, and faded bruises on his chest from various impacts. He was tough, he would have had the potential to get in the league if it hadn’t been for his tendency to disobey any and every order given to him. But he had a huge potential nevertheless, and the more you worked with him, the more you could see what Talia saw in him._

_“I hate the cold” You admitted after taking a deep breath. His eyes snapped up to you in confusion, while yours trailed away on the rocks around you. “I hate the way it seeps through everything. It makes my bones ache”_

_“A weakness, I’ll be damned” He whistled lowly. “Then why are you doing this, if you hate it so much?”_

_You met his eyes. “Once you let your limits dictate the path you take, you’ve taken the first step to losing any sense of control on yourself”_

_“Is this another lesson on self control?” He tested._

_“No” You shook your head. “I just wanted to let you know I’m not doing this to torture you, but because I know you’ll gain valuable skills from training in extreme conditions, as I did before you”_

—–

Nobody was around when you came back from the warehouse. All the lights were turned off, and all that could be heard was the creaking of the wood foundations of the manor. You followed Jason down the hallway and into an almost empty room, beside from the furniture. He invited you to walk in first, and gently closed the door behind him. He turned on the light and waited by the door.

“So, where’s the camera?” You asked, looking around for it. Your eyes set on Jason, who had an eyebrow raised. “Keep your enemies closer, right?”

“There’s no camera in bedrooms” He replied with a small smile. “That’s rule number one. But if you gotta know, there’s one right outside your door that will monitor your every in and out. You can’t escape this one, but you’re welcome to try anyway”

You snorted.

“He’ll be watching you closely for the next days” He hummed. “He’ll be weird about it and not subtle at all. I guess you’re aware of his relation to the league”

“Hard not to” You said, throwing your bag on the floor. “Are you sure it’s a good idea for me to stay here? I’m not sure your brothers are very happy about it either”

“And you care since when?” He mused.

“I don’t” You took a step toward him, looking at him pointedly. “Just don’t blame me for defending myself if they jump me” 

“Don’t worry, I’ll be on the sidelines filming it” 

You rolled your eyes, but the hint of a playful smile stretched on your lips. However, it disappeared when you remembered the purpose of you being there in the first place. Jason noticed the shadow passing on your face, and leaned on the door behind him. He waited for you to speak, even when you made your way to the window, your back to him.

“Confrontation will be unavoidable” You sighed, looking outside into the night. “What if I give in?”

“You won’t” 

He said it with such certainty it made you turn your head to glance at him. _How could he be so sure?_

“I’ve never met anyone with as much self control as you” He explained like he had read the question on your face. “It’s fucking annoying. But you won’t be the one who flinch first, trust me. You’re too stubborn for that”

“Thanks, I guess” You mumbled, facing the window again. “But I don’t know how I will react when it goes down. My mother warned me…”

“When you were eight” He pointed out. “You’ve trained your body and your mind for this moment for years. I wouldn’t be so quick to discredit your ability to handle this with a certain detachment”

“Detachment?”

“Mmmm” He hummed, sporting that expression of his he knew had always gotten on your nerves as he stalked toward you. “You’re pretty stone cold” 

“I will beat your ass” You stood your ground, but he only grinned. Maybe because it came out much weaker than you had intended to.

“See? You’re proving my point right now” He stopped right on front of you. “Stone. Cold”

You held his stare, his vibrant blue eyes as expressive as always. He was poking at you, poking at your reaction to him. You were always so composed around anyone else, but he had sneaked inside your walls a long time ago. You didn’t have to keep your guards up around him, but that would be a problem now. You couldn’t let it come in between you and your goal again, not after last time. You’d have to be careful not to let your emotions and feeling for him in again. 

You took a step back, and he hid the hurt well on his face. After all, you did come back to him, and he probably thought it meant you had changed your mind. But while you welcomed his presence at your side on the field, you wouldn’t let _it_ go further. And he’d have to understand that.

_You’d have to get it on your head as well, it seemed._

“Thank you, Jason. For helping me” You muttered. 

“You’ve done the same for me” He replied with fondness, despite his disappointment. “Goodnight”

You nodded, watching him walk back to the door. Halfway through the threshold, however, you called to him.

“Wait”

He paused in the door frame, looking back at you.

“Will you stay in the mansion too?”

His eyebrows raised in surprise for a second as your words registered, but a small smile appeared on his lips as he realized what you were asking. You didn’t trust his family, and with him there, you’d have an excuse not to interact directly with them. He wasn’t supposed to stay, but your unspoken request made him think about it again. He wouldn’t oppose to spending more time with you, and frankly, he missed your daily training.

“Three doors down to your right” He said, before gently closing the door behind you.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I KNOW this is barely edited but I have editing so much and I don't feel like it rn, perhaps I'll go back later lmao sorry

_Jason’s progress became even more obvious as spring rolled by. You had access once again to that clearing in the middle of the blooming nature, and the days were once again becoming longer. He would still complain about training–you didn’t think you could ever stop him from doing so–but he wouldn’t lash out like he used to._

_“Are you ever going to stop doing that?”_

_You smirked at his exasperation after you rolled away from his swing. Once again, you were playing it passive._

_“When you’ll stop falling for it”_

_There was a focused calculation in his eyes, like he was trying to find out a solution to beat you. He was analysing your movements; you had noticed him doing that a lot more lately. You blocked his sword, but this time, instead of attacking again, he twisted yours and sent it flying away. He threw his beside it and engaged in hand to hand combat, forcing you out of your passive strategy._

_Finally._

_His hits came flying fast, but they were controlled. He moved fluidly around you, imposing his rhythm. You had to be much more proactive to avoid receiving devastating hits, as it dragged you out of your zone of comfort. You had to try and change the rhythm, risk exposing yourself to try moves to slow him down._

_His expression soon turned playful. He was enjoying this version of the fight way more, as he was clearly in his element. His strength was kept in check and so was his anger. It was a far cry than the first time he had disarmed you, for this time he wasn’t trying to kill you, or strangle you._

_He got you on a high kick, as he thought fast enough to grab your ankle and yank you. You tried to pull yourself up and wrap your legs in a chokehold, but his roll forward sent you on the ground. He offered you a hand to stand up, and you took it._

_“I’ll be damned” You said, dusting yourself up. “You’ve finally stopped falling for it”_

_“Huh?” He frowned, wiping his forehead with his sleeve. The sun was particularly hot that day, even if it was still early in the year. Jason was in an old ripped t-shirt, and you had ditched most of your league gear beside the pants and boots. You simply had your long sleeve base layer, which still elicited comments from Jason on how weird it was seeing you “peeled off”._

_“You took control of the fight without lashing out” You explained. All that time you had been teaching him restraint and how to focus his emotions rather than let them dictate his actions, and he had proved he could put it all in practice. “I’ve been trying to get you to that point for months”_

_“So no punishment for not beating you with a sword?” He raised his eyebrows, skeptical._

_“Don’t be ridiculous” You scoffed. “You couldn’t beat me with a sword”_

_“Wow”_

_“It was about time you finally figured that out” You teased. “Recognize your enemy’s strength, and don’t let them use it to dictate the fight. You decide how it goes, not the opposite”_

_“So next time I can disarm you in any fight?” He joked._

_“Next time I’ll be the only one to have a sword” You replied, carefully watching the shift in his expression, from smug to concerned. “Now we can begin real training”_

_“Real training?”_

——–

The gym in the cave had a strong echo.

The glass cage around the sparring surface made it even worse, trapping the sounds to bounce around. Every hit of the wooden escrima sticks, every grunt of effort or every roll on the floor reverberated back to you. But you would mostly tune it out, your focus solely on Jason in front of you. 

Your duel was conducted at high intensity. Neither of you spared the other in your hits, and all sneaky moves were allowed. It was fast paced and violent, but that’s how you rolled. You were used to it with him, you knew his limits and he knew yours. And you were nowhere close to them.

However, to any outsider, it would look like you were in a real fight. If you had your side open, he would hit your ribs. You would either target the back of his knees or try and elbow his stomach if you got him to raise his arms a bit.

When he missed a pace, you hit his wrist, making him drop his stick. You blocked the one remaining in his left hand with your left and rested the other on his cheek, before taking a step back and spinning them both. 

“Did she just fucking beat Todd?”

You turned around to face the small public your fight had attracted. Dick and Tim were there, looking baffled. You threw Jason his towel and grabbed yours, wiping down the sweat on your face and escrima sticks. 

“Of course she did”

A new voice warranted your attention. Down the stairs came a face that was familiar, but that you hadn’t seen in a long time. Bruce Wayne followed suit.

“Mother wouldn’t have chosen anyone as her right hand”

Two pairs of wide eyes glanced back at you. 

“You’re–”

“You know–”

“Yeah you dipshits” Jason mused as he strutted out of the cage with you in tow. “I got my League training from Talia’s number one champion”

“You’re quite skilled, I see” Bruce jumped in the conversation. You glanced at him. “Would you agree to a duel? In between League trainees?”

“I never refuse a duel” You said, putting down your towel and escrima sticks. 

“Oh yes” Jason’s eyes sparkled up as he walked toward you. You exchanged a smirk. “I’ve got to see this”

“If you’re doing a League match up, I want in” Damian stepped up as well.

“FUCK YES” Jason now looked extasic while Dick and Tim looked concerned, yet curious. 

You rolled your eyes and waited for Bruce and Damian to choose their weapon before stepping up to the rack. You grabbed two identical swords for dual wield, tested them in your hands and faced the men again. You could almost hear their minds thinking of your choice of weapon as bold, but you didn’t care. 

“Shall we?” You gestured to the glass cage. You watched as Damian enthusiastically went first, sending you a smirk. Last time you had sparred with him, he had been a child. Now he was a bit older, and you suspected his technique only had gotten better. You had no idea what to expect of Bruce, however, who paused in front of you before following suit. 

You went in last and watched them warm up their movements with their own sword. You noticed also Jason, Dick and Tim got closer to the glass, all a different expression on their face.

“I can’t wait to see Bruce’s ass kicked” Jason said, his arms crossing over his chest.

“What?” Dick scoffed. “No way she can hold him, let alone the two of them”

“They were both trained by Ra’s” Tim added. “I’m with Dick on this one. It’s not because she kicked your ass that she can kick theirs as well”

“Just watch and learn” Jason wasn’t fazed by their comments. “They can’t beat her with a sword”

Bruce and Damian finished their warm ups and positioned themselves in front of you.

“I hope you won’t hold back” The older Wayne said as he spun his sword in his hand. “Because we won’t”

You smirked and lowered yourself in a fighting position, holding up your swords. “I wasn’t planning to” 

They both launched their first attack in sync, and you blocked both of their sword with yours crossed over your head. You paused there for half a second and made eye contact with both of them, before you pushed their sword back and attacked at your turn. The clang of the metal was fast, but barely enough to follow the speed of your moves. You relied mostly on your instincts and on where you predicted each blade would be aimed next. 

You bent to avoid Damian’s sword and used his open side from his swing to deliver a kick, sending him stumbling back. You had to immediately roll away from Bruce’s sword, which came your way at full force. You spun around and blocked his hit again, holding the blade and twisting it to make him lose balance. It almost worked, but he dropped it before crouching and catching the hilt lower. He threw himself back on his forearms to avoid your elbow, and propelled himself back upright. You chained two round kicks, which he blocked with the flat side of his sword. Then, Damian came back in the fight, but you had seen him coming from behind. You vaulted out of the way and his sword collided with Bruce’s instead.

Meanwhile, the boys were still watching on the side, their attention unwavering. Jason was still grinning, while the other two were trying to process the fact that you could easily keep up with them.

“Am I finally overdosing on caffeine,” Tim spoke up, glancing down at his coffee. “Or is it actually supposed to be that fast?”

“It’s… Not supposed to be that fast” Dick blinked a few times. 

“Told ya” Jason teased, sending a quick glance to his brothers, then returning it to the fight. 

Bruce and Damian where now coordinating against you, timing their attack to force you on the defensive. You had to have always one sword up above you to block attacks, and the other swinging to protect your side and middle. You knew you wouldn’t last long like this, so you pulled out your wild card. You dropped down, crouched with one leg extended on your side for balance, brought your sword in a X shape in front of you and opened them again in a 180 degree sweep motion. 

It was like time slowed. Both of their eyes widened as they realized your move, Damian reacting a bit faster as he had seen it before. He vaulted back out of the range of your sword before it could reach him, while Bruce had to jump last second so his kneecaps wouldn’t be reaped. You took the moment of their stupor to pull yourself to your feet again and point your swords at both their throat.

Your chest was heaving as the fight came to an end, sweat glistening on your face and back. You held eye contact with Bruce for a moment, before retracting your swords to your side. You glanced at the boys outside, then back at your opponent. You nodded at them and stepped out of the glass cage and put back the swords in the rack.

Nobody was speaking.

You could feel their stares on you, like they were expecting you to turn around and attack them all. Well, that wasn’t unusual; you had been there for tree days and that’s how they always looked at you. Jason handed you your towel wordlessly, but his face communicated enough. He had this grin that only meant he took way too much satisfaction in seeing his adopted father at the tip of your sword. Considering his feelings toward him, his reaction was no surprise. 

“Your branding” Bruce finally broke the silence from behind you. You frowned, until you realized you were wearing a tank top and the healed burn mark on your shoulder was visible. “It’s a fox?”

“Yes” You nodded, turning around to face him. 

“Why?”

“I’ve always been smaller than the other assassins, and faster” You paused to drink water. “I had to be more cunning than them to beat them. So they started calling me Thaelib fi alzalam”

“Fox in the dark” Damian translated. “I never had heard the story behind the name”

“There’s not much to say about it” Your eyes slid to him. “But I guess it sticked enough to become my name” 

“What’s your real name, then?”

You only raised an eyebrow in Tim’s direction, choosing not to answer him. He wasn’t privy to that information, none of them were beside Jason who already knew. Besides, that name had been erased from any record that may have contained it. You only existed in the world as Thaelib fi alzalam. 

“How long have you been in the League?” Bruce asked again, ignoring his son’s question. You were growing restless, with all these questions. You had already said too much, but you also knew not giving an excuse for beating him would only raise more questions.

“Roughly 18 years” 

“Jeez” Dick breathed. “That explains a lot”

“Funny enough, I thought the exact same thing when I found out” Jason snorted, giving his brother a pat on the shoulder. “Now if you’ll excuse us, spending the morning playing 21 questions with you all is not as fun as you think” 

He pushed past Bruce and Dick, and you didn’t need to be told twice. You followed him out of the cave and up the stairs, mumbling a ‘thank you’ along the way. You went back to your room to take a shower and change in your regular black attire, then found Jason waiting for you outside your room, freshly showered as well. 

“You know they’ll watch you even more after that stunt?” He spoke up, and you rolled your eyes. Of course you knew. “Bruce wasn’t happy with that kick in Dami’s ribs”

“He said not to hold back” You hummed, sliding your glance up to his face. “Besides, I’ve been sparring with Damian way before Bruce knew he existed. I knew he could take it”

“That’s true, but I doubt he’ll see it that way” His lips subtly curled up. “Why did you do it?”

“To show them I could” You shrugged. “If they’re to remain wary of me, I’d rather them respect my skills as well”

You glanced at the camera, knowing it had picked up the entire conversation. The three days you had been there, you felt you had been sidelined. Not only they didn’t trust you, but you believed they doubted the extent of your abilities. You wouldn’t let yourself be a background character in your own quest, even if it pissed off Batman himself. 

——–

_You watched with a small smile as Jason carefully took the pot off of the fire and clumsily held it at the bottom, trying to keep it in place with the cloth under it. He hissed as it momentarily touched his skin, but he immediately adjusted his grip. He slowly poured the tea in both cups, the quantity in each slightly unequal, and put back the pot on the hook by its handle. He handed you a cup, and you took it with a thank you nod._

_He watched you carefully as you softly blew on the steaming beverage a couple of time, then tasted it. He was waiting for your impression, but you remained silent while you evaluated the taste. You knew he would go impatient in a few seconds, and he proved you right by shifting in his seat. You looked up at him, his eyes intensely watching your reaction._

_“A bit too much lemon grass” You commented. “But overall, well done”_

_He held back a smile, but his eyes lit up at your evaluation. You had let him make the tea that night from what he had observed you do, you knew he had been watching your routine closely for the last few months. And now that he had proven to you he had reached a stable state of mind, you wanted to teach him peripheral skills as well._

_You drank the first cup in silence after that. You thought about the first night in the hut, when he had poured his tea on the ground while maintaining eye contact and it almost made you chuckle. There he was now, proud of his first batch of tea, even if he would never admit his pride out loud._

_As he poured the second cups, still unequal but a bit better this time, he spoke up._

_“What did you mean by real training?” He brought back the morning’s inquiry, as you hadn’t really answered him then. “I doubt you meant making tea”_

_“Only partially” The corner of your lips lifted once again, and he rolled his eyes. “I meant that from now on, we work on your technique and your execution, and on building up strength and endurance on muscles you don’t even know exist yet”_

_“So we jack up my eardrums and make me move like a dancer?”_

_You bit the inside of your lips, a silent laughter making your shoulders shake lightly. You shook your head at the joke, catching the grin on his face in your peripheral vision. “If you want to see it like this”_

_He didn’t say more, but soon enough his expression sobered up._

_“So you had to go through all of this as well, didn’t you?”_

_Your gaze dropped. “And some more”_

_He waited for you to elaborate._

_“You came to Talia already highly skilled” You pointed out. “With major attitude problems, but highly skilled nevertheless”_

_He rolled his eyes again._

_“I came to the League with nothing” You resumed. “I had to learn everything from scratch, and believe me when I say all the ass kicking you recieved, I got first. I learned from my scars just like you did”_

_“I understand” He nodded. “I grew up in the streets of Gotham. It didn’t forgive mistakes a lot either, so any could be your last if you didn’t learn fast enough to steer around them”_

_“Did you learn it all there? On the streets?”_

_He sighed. “That’s a complicated story” He glanced down for a second at his cup, fidgeting with the handle. “Hold tight”_

——–

It seemed your strategy had worked. For the first time, you had been invited at the round table to discuss strategy. Everybody was geared up for the upcoming patrol and recon operation. You had to locate the weapon, as it had been moved after yours and Jason’s not so subtle interruption. You also had to interrogate Stamm if he was still around, or any high LexCorp operative, and copy the entire storage disk from the labs to try and find some blueprints or informations about the project. 

“I doubt the weapon will be any close to the new lab, or to LexCorp headquarter” Bruce said. “So we need to determine the most probable location and tag it while we distract at the two other places”

You watched the plan of the city intensely. The weapon wasn’t that big, so it could easily be dissimulated among typical lab equipment, but it couldn’t be subtly carried on one’s person. Luthor wouldn’t store the weapon at the docks or anywhere near it, the risk was to high for Falcone, or worse, Sionis, to just take it for themselves. He wouldn’t either store it on Joker’s territory, or around city hall. Too open for random attacks, and according to Bruce, Luthor wasn’t just ready yet to use the weapon. So it left roughly everything inside Upper East Side and Old Gotham. Luthor was based in the Diamond District, and both the previous and currently used LexCorps lab were based around Gotham University, just above the Upper West Side on the other side of the Finger River. You traced your finger from one location to the other, then completed the triangle to…

“Upper East Side”

The chatter you had tuned out died down as they took in what you said. They all looked at you like they had no idea what you were talking about. Jason walked closer to you, observing the map and frowning at your finger tapping the location.

“He’ll keep it within Gotham Upper East Side”

“Batman’s territory?” Damian raised an eyebrow. “That would be a bold move, especially since he knows we’re after him”

“The district with the most vigilante arrest…” Jason mumbled like he was trying to reach your reasoning. “… And the most security”

“Exactly” You nodded. “It would be the smartest move if he is not to keep it close to home. His target is not yet known, or even acquired. He stays in the middle, away from the gangs, safely protected and ready to strike. This is his move”

“How can you be sure?” Bruce narrowed his eyes, crossing his arms in front of his armored chest. He was almost intimidating in his Batman costume. Almost.

You clenched your jaw and exchanged a glance with Jason, one that obviously didn’t go unnoticed by the bunch of colorful vigilantes in front of you. It was sharp and meaningful, but he understood what it meant. “Logic”

“Logic” Tim repeated incredulously, eyebrows raised like you had said something wild, like _magic_ or _assassin_ instinct.

“That’s what I would do if I were him” You snapped your attention to him.

“Me too” Jason backed you up. “So unless you feel like racking up Gotham from one end to another, I’d say we go with this plan”

Bruce sighed, then nodded. He still had his doubt toward you, and there was definitely a suspicion of something else going on with you brewing in his mind. There was a specific reason you were there and he did not know it yet, but he could trust Jason’s judgement. Besides, something told him you knew more about this than you let on and he was determined to find out.

“Alright. You and Jason track the weapon, Dick and Tim distract Luthor’s headquarters. Damian and I–”

“No” You interrupted, and eyes widened around you. You knew only Jason hadn’t even if you couldn’t see it, as he was probably expecting your disagreement to your assignment. “I go to the headquarters”

Now you felt Jason stare on you. He did not see the direct approach coming, but he should have. Still, he was surprised with your decision to go for it tonight.

“Excuse me?” Bruce blinked slowly, unimpressed. “This isn’t–”

“Up for debate?” You finished for him as Jason sighed and massaged his temple. He should have known your presence here would grind up sparks, and that you would end up pissing everyone else. He had forgotten how stubborn and confrontational you were when you decided to _open your god damn mouth_. “It’s not indeed”

Jason did his best to mimic an apology, while Damian sported an amused smirk. Bruce and Dick looked slightly insulted, and Tim had an unreadable expression on his face, so blank it reminded you of other assassins in the League. 

Bruce glanced from you, to Jason beside you, to his three other children lined up coincidently in height order. His eyes rested on you again and a flat determination set in his eyes. 

“Fine, you’ll have the headquarters” He conceded. “With Red Robin. Dick and Jason, you track the weapon, Damian and I will go to LexCorps labs”

“Wait what the fuck–”

“You’re not making a mess again” He interrupted Jason, pointing a finger at him but also meaning you. Jason held up his hand in sarcastic surrender before Bruce backed off. “We leave in five”

The boys emptied the room, and as you were about to follow then, Jason’s hand gently gripped your forearm, halting your tracks. He waited until everyone left before turning his head sideways to look at you.

“Are you sure you’re ready for this?” He muttered so the mics on the cameras wouldn’t pick it up.

“I’ve been preparing for 18 years for this moment” You replied at the same volume, meeting his eyes. “I’m ready”

He sighed, conceding. “Be careful”

“I can take it”

“I know” His replied harshly. “I mean be careful about Tim. If not he’ll figure it all out before you can spell his stupid three letters name”

So, that was the real reason Bruce paired you up with someone else than Jason. _To have a babysitter slash detective watching you_. You nodded at Jason and sidestepped him, joining the others in the garage. Everybody was around their vehicle of choice, and a single black ninja bike remained unclaimed. Bruce appeared in your field of vision, holding a key in his left hand. He began handing it to you, but paused mid way.

“Not a scratch, you’re only borrowing” He warned, but didn’t move afterward. You clipped your gas proof half mask in place before reaching out for the keys, then took a step back and did a last check on your ammo.

Your quiver was full, your sword was sharp, and your five smaller arrows on your arm were loaded. The two tranquilizer darts were in the inside of your arm as well, and your bow string was still strong. You gave one look at your full face mask on the table, but you decided to leave it there and only pull on the hood of your suit instead.

Jason noticed from the other side of the room, and he suppressed a smile at your voluntary omission. 

——-

You crouched on the ledge of the building, looking down at the sidewalk some storeys down. Luthor would be supposed to be arriving at his building in about fifteen minutes. You had searched on the facial recognition software for his position, and after you found him at some town hall meeting, it had been easy to tag his position and anticipate his trajectory.

“So you trained Jason?”

You casted your eyes up, then back down again. You weren’t feeling another conversation about your past, and especially not with the spy that was sent to report your every move. Tim was standing a few feet in your hindsight, his red and black cape lightly flapping in the wind making a soft background noise beside the distant sirens and traffic sounds.

“Oooookay” He hummed. “You’re in full gloomy assassin mode. Got it”

You exhaled slowly through your nose. This would be a long night.

“So, what’s the deal with you and swords?” He asked again, taking the remaining steps to stand beside you. “C’mon Foxy, you’re–”

You snapped your head in his direction, and your glower was enough to make him shut up. “Don’t ever call me that”

“Shit, sorry” He mumbled.

“It’s time” You said and stood up straight. You grabbed your bow and grabbed your flare arrows, shooting two in the air. Then, you aimed in the middle of the LexCorps building to a storey that had no light on. You shot a grappling line on the structure above the window and looped the loose end on a solid structure on the rooftop. You pulled on it to test its tension and hooked your bow to it. You stepped back on the ledge and nodded at Tim, who had already hooked his own pulley a few steps behind you. You jumped and slid down, your hand reaching for your high frequency dart. You loaded it on your arm and shot the glass at the end of the rope. You reached it moment later, feet first, and the window easily shattered with the velocity at which you barrelled into it. You grabbed the frame above you and tugged on your bow to free it then graciously rolled on your feet. Tim wasn’t far behind, jumping in with his momentum. He took a moment to disable all cameras and gave you a thumbs up.

You made your way out of this particular room, knowing the alarms would trigger a partial shutdown in less than a minute. You had to make it seem like you had a purpose being there, so all attention would be focused on LexCorps tower. Luckily, you knew there was a safe somewhere on the middle floors of the building. You had almost reached the stairs when the lights shut down, plunging you in a red glow. Only three floors would be on lockdown for now, yours and both the one above and under. You stopped by the door and gestured at it.

Tim took the lead and stuck a small explosive to the door, then shut his ears with his fingers for good measure. Seconds later, a quiet explosion when off and scrambled the electronic lock system. He pushed the door open and you engaged in the stairs. He pushed button on a device on his forearm, scanning the building for unusual electromagnetic waves. He halted his steps as the computer came up with a location, and he looked up the stairwell.

“Floor 17” He said, followed with a sigh. “I never signed up for all those stairs”

You only sent him an exasperated stare, and he got on the move again. One would have thought climbing the stairs six floors up would have never been a deterrent to an ex-robin, but here he was. You followed him silently, ears strained for any sound of footsteps that weren’t your own. Only when Tim set the second charge on the 17th floor door that shouts echoed below you, probably from the 11th were you had came from. The silent explosion came again, and you slipped through the kaputt door. You went left, a few paces behind Tim who was guiding you to the safe.

“Freeze!” 

You were about to round the corner when you halted your steps. Tim spun around, but you sent him a warning glance not to make a noise. They most likely hadn’t seen him yet. 

“Drop the bow!” The man barked again. “Drop the fucking bow!”

You smirked and crouched to put the bow down as ordered. Tim leaned on the wall, understanding your body language. He remembered that same morning when you all but humiliated Bruce in a duel, and decided to let you handle it. 

“Turn around”

Slowly, you spun on your feet to face the man ordering you around. He was the leader, probably, of a squad of ten men with their rifle facing you. Still in slow motion, you raised your arms, but drew two shurikens from your belt on their way up. Before they could take one step toward you, you threw the sharp stars shaped weapon and it stuck in two of the men on either side of the leader. You dropped on your knees as bullets started firing, grabbing back your bow and firing in the middle of the chaos. You moved on the floor, shooting gunmen as you went. _Seven, six, five, four three, two…_

Fire stopped and you held your next arrow nocked, ready to go. Silence had settled, and you glanced sideways at Tim. He shrugged. Then, an almost inaudible _click_ reached your ears. Without looking away, you shot straight onto the explosive thrown your way, and he raised an eyebrow. You glanced at it, stuck to the wall for a second before going off.

“Show off much?”

“I’ve been known for it sometimes”

“I’m calling dibs on next batch–”

Your eyes widened when he stopped talking and drew one of his own shuriken, throwing it seemingly in your direction. You dodged it last second, then glanced behind you at the grunt and thumps. The last security guard had almost sneaked up on you. You glared at Tim with confusion and incomprehension, while he seemed smug enough.

“I’m telling everyone about this” 

You rolled your eyes. “We’ll see” 

You resumed your treasure hunt toward the safe, expecting the second wave of security anytime soon. Tim lead you to the safe, which was hidden in a fancy looking lounge. It was behind a portrait, in a most unoriginal way. You pulled it from the wall, knowing that alone would trigger alarms to disclose your position. You just needed a bit more artifices to keep the attention on you.

“How should we proceed?”

You raised an eyebrow at him and gestured to the safe vaguely. “Be my guest”

He grinned and got to work while you watched the door. The stomping of the next troop was steadily growing, so you readied your bow. “Two minutes, babysitter, two minutes”

“This one’s mine, remember” He huffed as you heard him press on random buttons. Then, you heard another explosive. _Jesus, how many did he have?_ “Don’t you dare go for them Foxy”

“It won’t be a problem if I kill you first” You grumbled. “One minute”

“How many?”

“At least twenty” You informed him after listening to the sound more closely. “Thirty seconds. You sure you want them all?”

“Shut up and watch” 

He breezed past you, and seconds later, the door busted open. You retracted in the shadows, watching as he fought the armed men. He got to work with his bo staff, knocking out the first ten or so guards without breaking much of a sweat. But then, he became overwhelmed by the second half. He was surrounded, hitting blindly around him at this point. But he held on as much as he could, and his stubbornness reminded you of Jason’s. Except Tim didn’t look like a loose canon. 

“A little help here?”

“You told me they’re yours” You mused, distracting two guards that hadn’t seen you. They were searching for you in the darkness, and Tim took advantage of their distraction to knock them out too. “I wouldn’t dare”

“C’mon man!” He grunted. “I have twice as you did, and you owe me one!”

You rolled your eyes and put your bow down, then reached for your katana on your back. You took a few step forward and spun the long blade before attacking. Three men went to attack you when they noticed you step out of the shadows, but they didn’t really stand a chance. It took a minute to take down the remaining men.

“I still got more than you” He panted, retracting his bo staff. You watched as one guard pulled himself to his feet, raising his rifle to shoot Tim in the back. You lifted your arm and shot a small arrow in his throat.

“Now we’re quit”

He looked in between you and the man you took down, then to the device on your arm with wonder. “You’ve got to get me one of these”

You furrowed your eyebrows in frustration. “You’re a lot harder to rile up than Jason”

“The bar cannot be lower” He snorted. “Is it annoying you?”

You narrowed your eyes at him. “Yes”

He grinned, but didn’t elaborate. 

“Do you think we did enough?” He changed the subject, but didn’t let you time to reply. “On second thought, don’t answer that. I’ll connect Batman”

You lifted your arms in exasperation. Soon enough, the comm in your ear connected with the rest of the group. 

“Nightwing, where are we with the tag?”

“We found it” Dick replied. “Coming to you as we speak. How’s it going on your side?”

“We blew up things. Foxy got her sword out”

“Foxy?” Jason repeated, and you could only picture his expression. 

“I will push you out of this window and I am dead serious” 

“Oh my god”

“Children” Bruce interrupted. “We copied the files at the lab. If you could pull one more distraction, we’re almost out”

“Copy that” Tim nodded and turned off the feed. “Let’s drop the grand finale”

“I’m tempted to shove an explosive up your nose and make a firework out of your head” You said dryly, not losing the glare.

“Jeez, now I see why you and Jay hit up so well” He chuckled and you frowned.

“Shut up”

“Only when I’m dead”

“No” You hissed. “Actually shut up, I’m hearing the next wave and something sounds weird. It’s like they’re rolling in something…”

He stopped talking as you tried to figure out what was the sound. You padded to the door, sheathing your sword and took a glance in the hallway, hearing the sound gradually come closer. It was heady, that was for sure, with some metal trailing behind. Then a black, metallic nose rounded the corner, and your eyes widened. Fuck.

“What’s going on— oh shit”

“There they are!” A voice yelled as bullet began raining down on you. You didn’t have your bow, so you were forced to retreat. “Get Big Ben closer!”

“They have a _fucking_ machine gun!” He yelled over the bullets.

“No shit!” You yelled back, sliding through the room and grabbing your bow on the fly. You then crawled behind the desk and flipped it on the side with a strangled cry of effort. It was pure wood, and judging by its heaviness, it would at least protect you from a while. Tim caught up on what you were doing and helped you push the desk against the busted doorframe. 

“Grand finale you said?” You huffed sarcastically once you were both crouched behind the desk. It wouldn’t last long against the machine gun, so you’d have to act fast. 

“At least we won’t have to come up with some dumb stunt” 

“Wouldn’t be so sure” You bit your lip, looking in between the window and the desk. They were drilling the machine gun to the ground on the other side. Your arrows wouldn’t do much against that, but you had another idea. You grabbed an explosive arrow and send it through the window, making it shatter in tiny pieces. “Cover me”

“What?” He hissed, watching you stand up when the fire ceased for reloading. “No– Don’t– Shit!”

You walked backward to the open window and shot a grappling line through the desk, as he fended off the guards with his shurikens. You pulled on it, and when you were sure it was secure, you whistled to grab Tim’s attention. “Time to go, babysitter”

He stood up and walked backward as well, emptying his shuriken reserve on the men. You grabbed his wrist and shoved your bow in his hand. “Hold tight”

He frowned at you, and you pushed him out of the windows with a smirk. You then returned your attention on the blocked doorway, lifting your arm once again. You waited until the desk was beginning to be dragged toward you by Tim’s fall, seeing the nozzle of the gun. Before they could fire, you shot an arrow right into it. You then jumped out of the window to avoid being reaped by the desk and grabbed the line. 

You let yourself slide down, clenching your gloved hand on the line to slow your fall. Soon enough, the ground was meer feet away. You gripped the line with your other hand to reach an acceptable speed to hit the ground. You finally pushed away from the line to give yourself space to grab your bow at the end of the line, and landed gracefully on your feet on the ground.

“You fucking pushed me out of the window!” Tim yelled at you.

“I told you I would do it” You replied flatly. 

“You’re insane!” He threw his hands up. “What if I had..”  
  


You tuned his yelling out as someone caught your attention behind him. You took one step forward, your hand instinctively reaching for an arrow. There he was, the bastard that had killed your mother. 

Luthor.

He was exiting the building alone by a back exit, cell phone to his ear. You shot an arrow, but he dodged it last second. His wild stare stopped on you, already reloaded and ready to retake your shot. But he took off, and ignoring Tim’s protest, you went after him. You exchanged your regular arrow to an explosive one and shot it through the concrete archway leading to Robinson park. It came down and blocked his path, and he was trapped. He spun around with a gun at the same time you shot your arrow. You dodged the bullet just on time, and your arrow knocked the gun out of his hand, and for a second you just stared at each other. Then you slowly lifted your arm and aimed at him, pulling back your hood. You wanted to have a good look at him without being shadowed. 

His brow creased. 

Your breathing was loud through your half mask, but you didn’t back down. All you had to do was to take the shot and quickly, swiftly, pierce his throat and make him drown in his own blood. But your muscles were frozen in place. 

Behind you, an explosion went off. 

From your peripheral vision, you watched as a block of concrete was projected from LexCorps’ building structure. Then, you drew its trajectory down to a group of homeless people in tents. You clenched your teeth, your focus returning on Luthor, his expression set as if he dared you to take your shot. The homeless group started screaming and scrambling. You swallowed back a yell of frustration and reached for your last explosive arrow, aiming it at the concrete and destroying it in harmless pieces. 

When you looked again, Luthor was gone.


	5. Chapter 5

_Your eyes were closed but you could feel Jason growing restless._

_It was already the middle of the day and you had not gone out once to train. He kept shifting his position, crossing and uncrossing his legs, and opening one eye to see if yours were still shut. He would also occasionally let long sighs of impatience, like a child stuck inside on a sunny summer afternoon._

_It wasn’t that far from the truth, actually._

_“Alright” He spoke up, slapping something on his skin. probably a fly. “This is pointless”_

_You slowly opened your eyes and stared at him. He was sweaty and swatting away bugs around him, and an all too familiar frustration was growing in his eyes. Although you didn’t do this exercise to spite him off especially, you had to admit you did enjoy to rile him up that way._

_“I know that face” He grumbled, and you raised an eyebrow. “You’re enjoying this too much. Is there even a purpose to this?”_

_“Yes”_

_“Then what is it?” He yelled, throwing his hands in the air. “We’ve been sitting here in silence for more than two hours!”_

_“Should I make it two hours more?”_

_“You are evil”_

_“I’m making you do this because” You began after an over exaggerated eye roll. “This kind of meditation, when done well, allows you to take control of everything in you. When you feel conflicted, angry or need to find strength, you can tap into that power. But you need to find it first”_

_“Yawn” He pretended to sleep. “When I made the joke about making tea, I had no idea you’d take it literally”_

_“Don’t act so smug, you could use it” You replied. “And the tea technique as well”_

_He gasped._

_“Now get back in position, palms up resting on your knees” You instructed, and he only crossed his arms against his chest in defiance. “Jason”_

_“I’m not doing it anymore” He shook his head like a toddler. “It’s as hot as the devil’s asshole and your little bowl of water is turning this hut in a sauna. And how the fuck are you not dying?”_

_He gestured wildly at your short sleeve base layer and tactical pants, which you thought was already a wild improvement from what you usually did. In fact, winter or summer, you had always worn your full League suit no matter how uncomfortable it could get. You had learned to ignore it a long time ago._

_“Because I’ve been dead since 2004” You deadpanned._

_It took him some time to react. “Sorry did you just make a joke?”_

_“No. I’m always serious” You didn’t concede, but you did suppress a smile. “Now focus”_

_“C’mon” He groaned. “For once let’s do something fun! I’ve earned it, don’t you think?”_

_You held his stare that had become wide and almost… Pleading? In a puppy-that-wants-treats kind of way. And thinking of it, he did work all for almost a year without really choosing what to do. You guessed you could make an exception for this once._

_“What did you have in mind?” You asked tentatively._

_“Let’s go swimming” He grinned, and it sparked an idea in your head._

_“Swimming you say?”_

——–

“What do you think they’re doing?”

“I don’t know” Dick muttered, glancing at Tim with a bewildered expression. “But I’ve never seen Jay sitting so still for so long before”

“Do you think they can hear us?” Tim asked, eyes still on jason and you. “Pssst, Jason”

“Hey Jason!” Dick called, louder this time. Still no reaction.

“Jaybird!”

“Earth to Todd?”

“What are you idiots doing now?” 

Both men turned around at Damian calling them out.

“Jason and Foxy are sitting face to face on the floor like statues” Tim replied, crossing his arms against his chest. “It’s kind of freaking us out. There are herbs burning or whatever”

“If you call her that to her face she’ll kill you” Damian pointed out, pushing off the wall he was leaning on. 

“I know, she already pushed me out of a window” He sighed as Damian walked past him to look into the room. He noticed the positions, the shallow bowl of water and the sage burning next to it. It clicked in his head it was something his mother had taught him years ago, still the never ending sitting session in silence were hardly forgettable. You? He wasn’t surprised to see you do it from what he had gathered about you so far. Jason, however, he was surprised he would even considering let alone last so long. He was impressed.

“They’re meditating, you morons” He rolled his eyes. “League stuff. Lets you in into your own soul so deep you can tune out the exterior world”

“Sounds freaky” Dick hummed.

“I’m going to test that theory” Tim smirked, taking a few steps in the room.

“And if you do _that_ it’s Jason that’s gonna kill you” Damian shouted as he walked away. 

“Can’t be worse that being thrown out of a window” 

“I swear one of them is actually going to kill you sooner than later” Dick sighed as he followed his brother nevertheless. He figured Tim would stand better chance at living with backup.

Tim tiptoed to Jason, taking good care to stay far away from you and your range. He had no idea if you had a blade hidden somewhere–you probably did–and exactly how fast you would hurl it at him. He needed to give himself a margin of manoeuver. He extended his finger and slowly, so slowly got closer to Jason.

“Don’t. You. Dare” 

He froze mid air, eyes widening. Jason’s eyes were still closed, but apparently he was aware enough to know he was close. He shared a glance with Dick, not willing to run away just yet even though Jason had quite literally blindly deducted his intention. He moved a bit closer again, and just before his finger came in contact with Jason’s ear, he snapped his eyes open and glared so hard at Tim it made him and Dick scatter out of the room. He help his glare a little longer on the room’s threshold before sighing. 

“I kinda miss the quiet of the hut”

You slowly opened your eyes to meet his stare. You would have given him a smile if your mind wasn’t so far away of your head. 

“Found anything?” 

You shook your head at his question, looking away from the concern that was growing on his face. You had tuned into your mind to find how in the hell and back you didn’t just let the arrow fly and ended it for Luthor. You had hesitated, something you didn’t even know was possible for you. Moreover, you had deviated from the only personal goal you ever had, for what? For the lives of people that didn’t matter to you. It was a good thing you didn’t work for the League on that one, because you wouldn’t have made it out alive. 

It was also a miracle Tim hadn’t ratted you going outside of the plan to go after Luthor. You had fully expected a fight when you met with the rest of the group, but he had kept his mouth shut after what went down. It worried you, because the only reason you could think for him doing that was for leverage, and well, you certainly didn’t like the idea of any of these people here having leverage on you. And with the warning Jason gave you about his detective skills, none of this settled right within you. 

“You’ll get another chance”

It was like he was reading your mind. It wasn’t like he didn’t know you better than anyone, and it was not like you were well guarded right now. You were too distracted to hold up your defenses. Still, you were angry at yourself.

“I let him go” You mumbled through gritted teeth. “I’ve never…”

“I know” He breathed out. “Are you okay?”

“Yes” You snapped. You didn’t need his pity. “I just need to remind myself of who I am”

He held your stare for a second, betraying no emotion. “And who is that?”

You gulped, hesitating despite your better judgement. “I am Thaelib fi alzalam, child of the darkness and servant of the demon”

His jaw clenched ever so slightly, but he didn’t say anything more.

——–

“Am I the only one who noticed Jay’s been… Different ever since he brought back the ninja here?” 

Dick looked up from his paperwork and grinned at Tim. “Right? He’s around all the time now”

“Do you think they’re together?” He asked in between two glances at the files in front of him. They were still on the Luthor case, and he had his own side quest to figure out. “She would seem like his type. Cold, snarky, slightly to very murderous, you know”

Dick laughed. “I mean something definitely happened between them, especially since they allegedly spent all this time together. But actually together? Meh”

“Don’t you have anything better to do that gossip about me?”

Both men’s eyes snapped up at the voice that joined the conversation. Jason was standing in the doorframe of the cave, arms crossed against his chest and a scowl on his face. A steaming cup of coffee was rested on his bicep, but he didn’t seem bothered by the heat of the ceramic container.

“Absolutely not” Dick sniggered, making Jason scoff. “So, you two together?” 

Jason’s eyes went from his older brother to Tim, whose head was cocked on the side. He was watching intensely for a reaction, and it made Jason shift on his feet. He did not like when Tim went all detective on him, especially since he had no idea of the reason why he would do it. It was creepy and invasive, and even him wasn’t immune to Tim’s hyper perceptiveness. Jason cleared his throat.

“You think I’m going to answer this?” He challenged Dick, doing his best to ignore Tim’s weird as fuck behaviour.

“Oh come on Jaybird, do a girl a favor and spill the beans!” He pleaded. “We barely know anything of what went down with you two”

“And I intend it to stay that way” He replied, walking to Dick’s rolling chair. “Now move. Alfred sent me to replace you. You’ve been here for hours and he wants you to take a break”

“Aw, okay” He complied as he stood up. “Can’t say no to Alfred”

“What about me?” Tim finally spoke with a small pout. Jason rolled his eyes and walked to his desk, putting down the steaming mug of coffee in front of him. Everybody knew it was pointless to try and pry Tim away from his work, so Alfred had instead sent him down with about seven shots of espresso in a mug. That was enough to change his expression from betrayed to content. 

Jason waited for Dick to leave and propped down in the seat, keeping watch on Tim from the corner of his eye. His fingers skimmed over the paperwork left behind, but he wasn’t very interested in it. He only agreed to replace Dick because like his older brother, saying no to Pennyworth was not an option, not a moral one anyway. 

“So” Tim began nonchalantly, pretending to be interested in whatever was in his face at the moment. Jason braced himself for more invasive questions he would not answer. “How did you not kill each other in the first week of training?”

Jason blinked in surprise at the question. He did not expect something so… Impersonal? He seemingly referred to his and your character, which he must have witnessed while being paired with you the previous night. However, he still remained on his guard, because Tim was being weird. Well, weirder than usual that is.

“I guess… We tried?” He said carefully, frowning. “Didn’t work”

“Interesting” He nodded, taking a sip from his coffee. “I’ve noticed her fondness for violence, which makes sense why you would get along”

“Okay just say what you want to say” He sighed, making a vague hand gesture. 

“No it’s just–” He paused and took a breath. “Something weird happened the other day, after she pushed me out of the window”

Jason raised an eyebrow.

“She landed after me and then she just took off” He said with a shrug. “Naturally I went after her because nobody walks out on me. And imagine my surprise when I saw her facing off with none other than Lex Luthor”

Jason’s muscles tensed, but he gave no other reaction. _Fuck_. 

“I mean she could have killed him, she seemed pretty obsessed with going there or whatever” He kept talking, obviously noticing his brother’s subtle change of attitude. “But then they just held the stare off until the explosion went off and she instead saved a bunch of people that would have otherwise been crushed to death by concrete. Anyway. Now tell me if I got it wrong, but she doesn’t seem like the type to just _hesitate_ , or care about the others, right? I tried to piece it together, the obsession, the hesitation, her weird knowledge of Luthor’s modus operandi, her whole involvement in this for that matters, but I still come short of the little missing piece to the puzzle. It bothers me”

He watched Tim with his mouth slightly agape. He _knew_ it had been a bad idea for you to go after Luthor with Tim nearby, but he didn’t think he’d put the pieces together that quickly, or rather, that you’d let such a slip go noticed. Nonetheless, he wiped away his astonishment away and replaced it with yet another scowl.

“Why are you telling me this?”

“I don’t know, I’d believe you know more than anyone about her”

“I think you’re looking way too much into this, Drake” He dismissed, going back to his papers. “She was raised by the League. Going after a target is her basic instinct, and are you really going to judge her for doing the right thing and saving people?”

“Mhhh” Tim simply hummed, also going back to his own work. Jason gave him one last glance, knowing his deflection wouldn’t hold him back for long. The truth was about to come out, and he feared it wouldn’t be pretty when it did.

——–

_“Go on”_

_Jason narrowed his eyes, his glance slowly going from you to the plank you had lowered above the water and to the post farther into the middle of the river. It rose about seven feet above the surface, and Jason didn’t trust it or your intentions for that matter._

_He adjusted the quiver strap and the bow on his shoulder and began carefully reaching the post. Nope, he definitely didn’t trust that setting at all. However, as much as he was mad you had twisted his swimming idea, he was also curious as to what hellish stunt you would make him do this time. He knew you by now, so whatever it was, it would be both dangerous and entertaining._

_He grabbed the post and hoisted himself up by the only step that was carved in the middle of it. He stood up on the small surface, barely large enough to stand comfortably on both feet. He looked at you, and you had already pulled back the plank._

_“Hey!”_

_You smirked and brought the plank to the other post about twenty feet further down the river. You climbed on it and faced Jason._

_“So what now?” He called from his position. “We shoot each other?”_

_You grabbed an arrow and nocked, but left your bow aimed down at the water. Even from the distance you could see his face drop._

_“You’re fucking crazy!” He shouted. “How is this not ending in one of us being dead?”_

_“You found static meditation too boring” You shouted back. “This should do it to find your balance and inner strength”_

_“What the fuck am I supposed to do?”_

_“Dodge the arrow” You said, lifting your bow and shooting straight at him._

_The arrow flew at him, and in his attempt to dodge it, lost balance and landed in the water. He came up with a gasp, and swam back to the wooden post before the strong current could drag him away. He climbed again, all drenched and glaring at you._

_“Or fall and get wet”_

_“Oh, because you’re so good at dodging arrows from a upright tree trunk without falling” He snarked back as he took off his tank top and threw it on the shore.. “I’d love to see you on the other end of these”_

_For emphasis he raised his own bow. You shrugged and slipped your bow through your arm and head to rest it on your back, and waited for him to shoot. In a blink he nocked his first arrow, aiming from your left shoulder. You leaned out of the way, stable on your post, then slowly returned to your position. You raised your eyebrow in challenge, and oh did he not like that. The next arrow went to your feet, and you simply jumped, landing back solidly on your feet. He shot at the same place again, you jumped, then aimed for your mid section rapidly after. You landed on your left foot and crouched so your right slipped along the post, resting on the step in the middle. Jason paused a moment, eyes wide, before shooting straight at you. You propelled yourself up, then saw a second and third arrow coming your way before you had the time to stabilize yourself. You saved your eminent fall with a side vault and landed gracefully._

_“Oh you must be kidding me!”_

_“Don’t act so surprised” You teased. “You can do that too, Jason. Close your eyes and take a deep breath, don’t think about it too much. Empty your mind and trust your instinct”_

_You waited as his shoulders went up and down, and his eyes slowly opened. Without waiting you shot an arrow, an easy one to dodge and he did, seemingly on instinct. You shot another, he jumped over it. His landing was wobbly, but he didn’t fall. His eyes lit up like when he found out a game he liked, and he began shooting back at you. You exchanged hits, not once falling, well, until one of you did._

_Two quick arrow of yours managed to make Jason land a bit too far to the right, and he fell in the water. However, he didn’t resurface immediately, which made you lower your bow and search the water for him. You frowned, and only noticed too late the wave of water coming on your side. Jason then climbed on your post and tackled your waist, throwing you straight into the water with him. You hit the water on the side, and swam back to the surface with a gasp._

_Jason stared at you with a devious grin, daring you to do something about it. You hooked your bow on your shoulder and lunged._

_You had to admit, sparing in water wasn’t something you had ever done, and the resistance was getting to you. Jason was already better at hand to hand, but now he had the absolute advantage. His longer limbs allowed him to move better and to pull himself up on the river ground if you were to push him down, and the fact that he was only in shorts didn’t impede his movements as much as your heavier clothing. The current was rolling you down the river, and when you hit a shallower part, you couldn’t see the posts anymore._

_You now had water to your midsection, and Jason took the opportunity from your stumbling on the higher river floor. He caught you in his classic headlock, pressing your back against his chest. You stopped struggling then, knowing it was over for you. But he didn’t release you, and you didn’t move either when he slightly loosened his hold._

_Both of you were panting from the effort, his chest was heaving quickly on your back. The water made your and Jason’s skin cold, but his breath was warm on the crook of your neck. Usually you would have tapped out, or flipped him over. But you were like in a trance, and you didn’t understand why you couldn’t move away._

_Why you wouldn’t move away._

_“Gotcha”_

_His voice sent shiver down your spine._

_“Fuck, Jay”_

_It took you a moment to realize what you said. His breath stilled on your neck, and you gulped. You had never called him just “Jay” before, you didn’t do nicknames. And especially not with that voice, and in that kind of circumstance. You cleared your throat, and he dropped his arm and took a step away._

_“I'll…” You trailed off. “I’ll go change”_

_“Sure” His voice wavered in a weird way. “Uh, go on, I’ll catch up later”_

_You turned around, raising an eyebrow. “Is… Everything alright?”_

_“Yeah" He said. “I’m just, uh, going for a swim real quick. Another one”_

_Without another word, he submerged himself in the water._

———

You had Damian in a headlock when the trail of bat family rushed down the batcave in a hurry, Jason trailing behind seeming way less bothered than the others. You looked up, and this moment of inattention gave Damian the opening to send you flying over him. Your back hit the ground flat, and your confused stare at your own distraction was met by a grimace of disbelief from Damian. Okay, you were _truly_ out of it. 

“Luthor has devanced his plan, we got intel he would move tonight”

You pulled yourself to your feet, suddenly interested in the rush they seemed to be into. You followed Damian out of the cage and met the group halfway, glancing at Jason. He only briefly met your eyes, returning his attention on Bruce afterwards.

“He is going to move the weapon in an underground facility just outside the city, which means we will lose the signal from the tracker” He briefed. “The classic, three vans, only one carrying the package”

“Do we know what it’s even for?” Jason asked.

“I found something about yersinia pestis being injected in certain areas of Gotham” Damian stepped up. “So basically, a plague weapon”

“A plague weapon?” He frowned. “Why would Luthor would ever be interested in bringing back the plague?”

“Wait” Dick perked up, running to the working tables and looking around for something specific. He grabbed a stack of papers and came back. “Here, I saw he made the recent acquisition of a pharmaceutical company that produces, wait for it, gentamicin. It’s a plague treatment”

“So he’s gonna drop the virus on Gotham with that little device?” Jason raised an eyebrow.

“I don’t know–”

“Last year Luthor made the acquisition of a low income housing company mostly operating in the Bowery, Crime Alley and Otisburg” You spoke up, a wary look on your face. “My bet would be that device is to slip the bacteria into the ventilation systems, or the pipes”

“… He did” Dick confirmed, looking through the papers. “That would make sense. He spread the plague at a little scale, he provides the medicine, he wins at every steps”

“He IS trying to slither in the city council” Bruce hummed. “Trying to steal Wayne Enterprises’ seat”

“We need to go now if we don’t wanna miss our shot, Bruce” Dick warned.

“Yes” He snapped out of it. “Three vans. Nightwing, Red Robin, you’ll be assigned to the car that will go down through City Hall District. Robin and I will follow the car going through Gotham proper” He paused, looking at you and Jason. “You two work better together. You’ll go North. I’ll send Dick and Jason the trajectories. Gear up”

Wordlessly, you all went to your own dressing area. Yours was simply a plastic box in a corner with your suit folded, and your weapons on a nearby table. You took a moment longer than usual at the black uniform, but nevertheless put it on piece by piece. The tactical pants, the gloves, the undercoat and the protective layer on it, the belt and the spiked arm bracers. Then the belt, your sword on your back and the arrow quiver crossing above it. You reloaded the shooter on your arm and strapped the sheath on your thigh with your blades, then put on the comm in your ear. 

You grabbed your bow and returned toward the others, who were finishing gearing up as well. Jason came and stood beside you, an unreadable expression on his face. Well, it could be, but you refused to look at him in the face. You instead put on your helmet, the black visor hiding your face. 

“There’s no time to waste, let’s go” Bruce called. “Whatever team finds the van, you stop it and bring back the weapon here”

And with that, you went out. Bruce took the batmobile, while the rest were all on bikes. You and Jason left the cave last, shooting out on the road like two blurs in the night. Your comm was on, tuned on the channel with him only. It took him about five minutes to start talking.

“Tim knows” He said. “Or at least he is close enough to know”

“Doesn’t matter” You clipped back, swerving easily around cars on your way. “This will end soon enough one way or another”

“And you’ll go back to the league?” His voice was bitter, and you could only imagine his expression.

“… Yes” 

“Whatever”

You rode in silence until you reached your hideout point. There was still five minute before the van was scheduled to turn the corner and engage on the one way avenue, and you would execute the plan from then. You both turned different directions to hide in alleys, turning off the lights of your motorcycle. You put one foot down, leaving one hand on the handle. The engine was purring softly under you, warm and ready to take off.

“We’ll attack from the sides” Jason spoke again through the comm. You could see his red helmet on the other side of the street. “We take off the doors quick and clean, if it’s not there we lose them. If it is, I take the van and you cover me”

“Copy that” 

“They should be there in one minute, get ready” 

You adjusted your helmet and readied your explosive arrows. You then crouched on the bike and waited for the van to pass in front of the hideout. You counted the seconds in your head, _five, four, three, tw-_

“What the fuck?” You frowned when not one, but three vans heavily escorted with motorcycles sped past you. You and Jason engaged on the road nevertheless, coming up side to side at a safe distance from the vans.

“That wasn’t supposed to happen” He mumbled. “Alright, change of plans. Keep your distances behind them without being seen, I’ll cut them upfront. When I start drawing the escort, blow the doors of each vans. Fuck being subtle”

With that, he parted ways into a smaller street on his right. You remained hidden into traffic, making sure the bikers did not spot you. Not long after, you heard gunshots and they all were drawn at the front, like Jason had planned. You accelerated closer of the last van at the tail. With one hand, you grabbed your bow on top of the handle, waited for the bike to get back straight and slowed down a bit. In a quick movement, you grabbed an explosive arrow and shot on the van doors, immediately regaining your grip on the handle afterwards. The doors flew open, revealing it empty.

You cursed, but swerved nonetheless around the slowing down van and paused in the driver’s blind spot. You knew they’d look for you to pass them, so you got ready with a blade in your hands. You waited a bit more before rolling up to the window and throwing the blade in the guy’s throat before he could shoot you. You repeated the same operation with the next van, also taking down two rogue bikers that had left Jason’s distraction to get to you. That van ended up empty as well.

“Two down, one to go” 

“Alright, hurry up, those fuckers just keep coming from I don’t fucking know where– FUCK”

“Hang on, I’m almost done”

Nothing in the last van either. You frowned, thinking how easy it had been for you to bust the vans. The bikers guarding the vans surely couldn’t be that stupid to still hover around Jason while you were clearly open, even if there was nothing. But you chased the doubt aside, and instead tuned in the frequency with everyone else

“Our vans are empty”

“So are our” It was Tim who replied a few seconds later. “Wait, vans in plural? B, did you get more vans too?”

“Only one, empty too” 

“Where did your intel come from again?” Tim asked. A moment of silence followed. 

“You and Jason should get out of there, something’s not right on the monitor–”

You lost contact when you were violently hit from the side by a black car. You were projected off your bike and sent rolling down several meters away. Your suit and helmet took most of the fall, ripping and breaking with the rough friction on the asphalt. You visor cracked and the protective plastic lining broke at the base. Your vision was blurry for a second, and your muscles barely responsive. You pushed through the pain anyway and carefully took off your helmet, throwing it away. You looked up and tried to focus on the figure in black coming toward you, and when you did, you gathered your remaining strength and managed a kneeling position. It was Luthor. 

You were about to shoot one of your dart when he shot first, sending a shockwave through your already weak muscles. You fell forward on all fours with a barely contained scream tearing through your throat. 

“We meet again” His voice was deeper than you expected, and way too calm. You didn’t like it. “I knew if I organized this little parade, you’d come back out there following the masked clowns”

So, it was a setup.

“Where’s the weapon?” You rasped.

“Safe in my underground storing since this morning” He replied smugly. “Don’t beat yourself up, you had no chance. You came too close last time at the lab”

“Kill me now and get over with it”

“Now why would I want to do that? I just wanted to see you from up close” He smirked. “I knew those eyes the second I looked at you the other day. And now that I have you here without that stupid mask, I can see you took more after your mother than I had planned”

You gritted your teeth, panting from the pain of the electrical shock that had gone through you. Hairs were falling out of your braid and sticking to your forehead, yet you didn’t care. You could only glare at him.

“But you’re still my daughter. You belong to me” 

You lunged, but another electric shock sent you back on your knees with a strangled cry. It had been a reflex on your part, since you were usually pretty good a pushing your pain aside. But you had been off ever since your last encounter with him. He got in your head so easily, and now he wouldn’t leave. 

“I am Thaelib fi alzalam” You rasped out. “And I don’t”

“Ah yes, I figured you would deny your name when we finally met” He seemed amused. “And you do, legally speaking. Your mother were under contract to deliver you and walk away. Instead she stole you from me. She stole years of work, for what? So you could become no one”

“You killed her!” You belted out, eyes wide with rage. “You forced us into hiding, she sent me to the League to protect me from you”

“Is that what you think? Or what she told you?” He was becoming impatient. “You were special. You were my first successful genetic clone, but her own selfishness got in the way”

“She wasn’t selfish” You tried to reach for a blade on your thigh, but another shock forced you on your hands. “You were”

“I was?” He put a hand on his chest. “I gave you your superior skills, I gave you your speed, I made you like this. I gave you that gift, that power, that strength, all of it so you could make it out in this world. I did it for you, from a father to his daughter”

You lifted your head a frown on your face. You skills? What was he talking about?

“You didn’t think the League’s training gave you those skills, did you?” He scoffed. “As I told you, you’re special, my girl. I only wished for you to thrive”

“No” You mumbled, narrowing your eyes. Your mother never specified you were _enhanced_. Did she even know? All that time you thought your successes were from your hard work, but they were really from a genetic modification. You always knew there was something peculiar about you that made you feel like you didn’t exactly belong with the others, and it had just been revealed to you. And what else could he have put inside of you, you weren’t aware about? It made your head spin.

“You’re not one of them, you realize it now” He stalked toward you. “Not the League, not the vigilantes either. Your mother stole you away from what you were made for, and the League merely repressed it. But you can’t fight your nature”

You didn’t look up when he stooped in front of you. You only glanced at your black gloved hands, realizing that all you had suffered only delayed the inevitable. If your mother hadn’t ran away, maybe all of your struggle and pain would have never happened.

“Come with me” He offered. “This internal conflict you have will subside quickly enough once you’re back home, you’ll see”

You ears were ringing as his proposition replayed in your head in loops. Maybe if you agreed he’d stop tormenting you then, maybe he’d leave your head and you could finally rest without obsessing over him. You slowly looked up, but something coming on your side made your eyes widen. Only then the sound reached your ears, and in a quick reflex movement, you rolled away.

Jason was walking toward you, shooting his bullet in rapid fire in Luthor’s direction.

Luthor noticed him half a second later and jumped away, running away and climbing in his black car. He drove away as Jason reached your, his eyes trailed on the retreating black cadillac. Then, he turned to you, the glossing red of his helmet staring back at you.

“You okay?”

You shook your head no.


	6. Chapter 6

_The moonlight was glowing on the soft wave of the basin of the river, so much it seemed you had your own spotlight. Your eyes were trailed on it as the warm water from the sun during the day caressed your bare sides. You were lost in your thoughts. It had been a few days since the river incident, yet you couldn’t get it out of your head. Hell, you could barely train him without your mind wandering back to it. You could barely recognize yourself, and you knew it had the potential to be disastrous, but you weren’t sure you disliked the feeling. It was just new and foreign, and you felt like you had to go to it rather than runaway from it._

_You heard movement in the water behind you, the waves softly rippling on your back. You didn’t turn around, as you had kind of known Jason would have followed you here sooner or later. He stopped a few inches behind you, and you could feel his eyes on your profile._

_“It was a night like this when my mom left me in Nanda Parbat” You began, and he listened. It had been his silent question ever since you revealed to him you had joined the League at eight years old. “We were on the run from my father. She had signed a contract to have me and walk away, but she couldn’t leave me. She was afraid of him, and she was afraid he’d get his hands on me”_

_“Why was she afraid?” His voice was barely over a whisper over the sound of the water._

_“She told me he was evil” You shook your head. “That what he wanted from me, it wasn’t right. He chased us all around the world. She was tired and desperate when she hid me with the League. I think… I think I realized it all years later when I tried to look for her and learned she was dead. Then I searched into him and I saw what he did to me. To a lot of people”_

_“What did you find?”_

_“Lex Luthor”_

_You didn’t see his face, but you knew his expression had changed as well as his posture. He knew about him, you were aware of that much. He was from Gotham, after all._

_“Sometimes life gives us shit fathers” He spoke after a moment. “It doesn’t say anything about who you are of what you do. You decide that”_

_You turned your head to look at him. The glow of the moon highlighted his bare skin tanned by the long days out training under the sun. His hair messily fell on his forehead, and his blue eyes had this intensity showing through them. It made you shiver despite the warmth of the night._

_“I’m not just his daughter” You said, not looking away. “I was his first clone, way before CADMUS or any of his big initiatives. I’m him”_

_“You’re most certainly not” He half shrugged, a discreet smirk gracing his lips.. “Sure you’re a pain in the ass, even slightly evil at times, but you’re not a monster”_

_Your lips lifted up in a smile. “And how would you know that?”_

_“Maybe because I spend every waking moment of the last, what, ten month, in your close proximity” As for emphasis, he moved closer to you, as close as he was the other day but without the arm around your neck. “And you don’t even come close to compare with the fair share of monsters I’ve seen, including Luthor”_

_His hand caressed your shoulder like a feather, and you leaned into his touch. It was familiar and comforting, and it made you realize that you might have needed it more than you ever thought you would._

_“Even if I train you without mercy?”_

_His hand trailed up your collarbone and rested on your cheek. You were so close you could feel his breath on your face. You turned the rest of your body, finally fully facing him. Your bare chest were almost touching from the proximity, and so were your lips. You could feel your heart beating so loud in your ribcage you thought he could hear it._

_“I kind of like this part, actually”_

_“Mhh?”_

_His lips were lightly touching yours, but not quite yet. You held your breath and closed your eyes._

_Ever so slowly, his lips pressed further into yours. You didn’t quite know what to do, it was the first time you had been kissed. But he kept things slow, guiding you to move with him. His free hand circled your waist and brought you flush against him as yours rested on his arms. His muscles flexed under your touch, letting you off to wonder how so much power could be so gentle at the same time. He pulled back, meeting your eyes again and gently combing your hair back. It was the first time he had seen you with your hair loose. You didn’t know anything anymore at that moment but one thing._

_You wanted more._

_You threw your arms around his neck and pulled his lips back on yours. He didn’t protest, on the contrary he seemed to welcome it. He might just have been as touch starved as you were, seeing as he was trying to pull you impossibly closer to him._

_You parted again to breathe, like you were underwater and you didn’t want to come back to the surface before the last minute possible. Jason didn’t waste time moving on to your jaw and neck, sucking and biting the sensitive skin there. The feeling was sensual and exciting, brewing up unknown feeling inside you. You whined him name, kind of like you had done some days before at the river, calling him back up to you. His eyes were now darkened with want, his lips flushed and his breathing fast. You thought back at your slip up, and wondered if his eyes had changed like that when you did._

_“Fuck” He breathed out. “I want you. Bad”_

_“You have me”_

_His lips couldn’t be back on yours faster._

———

You had never lost that many matches against Jason, but you didn’t even have the energy to be angry about it.

You had spent all morning in the cage, fighting away your frustration with yourself. Your hits were sloppy, imprecise and most of all, unsuccessful. Jason wasn’t even sweating, and you suspected he had stopped brutally knocking you off when you basically offered him the wins on a silver platter. Concern was growing in his eyes, he had never seen you so… Not you. But he wouldn’t talk first this time. He knew you were on the verge of spilling everything up, he could see it in your eyes, but pushing it would only delay the inevitable. 

The previous night had been a mess, way past the disastrous Luthor encounter. Bruce had wanted to know exactly what had went down when he lost contact with you, and in between revealing his motorcycle had been totalled and Luthor showing up for you, he had been furious. He obviously had demanded explanations as to why he would attack you specifically, why he had sent three cars for your group and your group only. You had no choice but to tell him then the true purpose of your visit to Gotham, as well as your actual family name and relation to Luthor. 

It was an understatement to say that Bruce did not take it well. 

But Jason had little care for his father’s reaction, as he was more preoccupied by your state. He could tell Luthor was still in your head, messing with you. He had no idea what he told you, but it must have been bad.

“I’ve been Thaelib fi alzalam for most of my life” You huffed as you attacked with a kick. “Yet I could never fully become her. I always had something pulling me back, and I thought by killing Luthor I could finally be the Fox”

He kept deflecting your hits without attacking, his eyes on you. 

“I’ve killed, I’ve done it so many times without flinching” You paused. “But couldn’t even kill him when I came face to face with him, and he actually seemed confident I wouldn’t. What if it was all bound to happen eventually?”

“Don’t tell me you’re thinking what I think you’re thinking” His face fell.

“I don’t know what I’m thinking!” You yelled, throwing your hands up. “Luthor genetically made me up for one purpose, and I’ve been pushing that purpose away for 18 _fucking_ years! I used the League to get to him under the pretext I wanted to kill him, I’m using you right now for the same thing, only to be made aware I did exactly what he would have done to get to him”

“Are you even hearing yourself?” He scoffed. “How hard did that little electroshock weapon scramble your brain?”

“He made me a weapon, Jason” You sighed aggressively. “Violence is all I know. I am made for destruction–”

“And you fucking believed him?” 

“I pierced your shoulder with my sword when you lashed out” You tried to prove your point, but he only rolled his eyes.

“Yeah, but I was being an asshole who had very much tried to kill you five minutes beforehand” He argued. “If the roles were switched, I would have done more than just a sword in the shoulder. And guess fucking what, Luthor would have actually killed me”

“So that magically proves I’m good?” You challenged, taking a step forward. “It forgives the fact that I’m not here to help you stop a bioweapon but for the revenge I seeked for my mother?”

He muttered a curse under his breath as you lunged forward. You gripped his shirt collar and tried to bring him down over your extended leg, but he sneaked his elbow in between you two and flipped you instead. You landed on your feet and attacked with your fists, rapidly throwing punches he blocked without much trouble. He kicked, aiming for your ribs, but you bent your upper body to avoid it. 

“Are you so stubborn that it finally blinded you?” He tried to reason. “If you were a lost case, Talia would have never sent you here. She did because she knows just like I do that you have the potential to be more”

You gaze dropped, your jaw still clenching. “I can’t be more”

“Bullshit, you can be _so much more_ ” He tempted a step forward. “Tell me again why you came after Luthor”

“Because he killed my mother”

“Don’t think so” He shook his head. “Try again” 

“Because he fucking killed my mother!” You repeated, losing patience.

“That’s the easy answer” He took another step. “The real reason, is because you care. You know you have what it takes to stop Luthor from doing to other people what he did to you”

“I don’t care”

“But you do” He taunted, stopping right in front of you, like he was daring you to prove him wrong. “About Talia and Dami, about even those random civilians you put your mission aside for. About me”

You wanted to argue at first, but it died down in your throat at his last words. You remembered all that time spent in the hut, your midnight swims in the river. You remembered how it felt to hear his voice again after three years apart, how his lips felt on yours. How returning to him had always been around in the back of your mind, no matter how far it might have been. Then you thought of Talia, how much you loved her and everything she did for you. You thought about the time you had fought to exhaustion the four rogue assassins who tried to kill Damian when he was just a toddler, and came through because you were attached to the kid. 

You attacked again. You didn’t want to admit he was right. 

“See, you do care” He repeated in between your hits. “You were just taught not not”

Your hits began faltering. The resolve in your head was fast dissolving, and you wanted _so bad_ to give in. 

“You’ve always stopped your emotions from making you weak” He easily dodged your fists before grabbing your extended arm and pulling you forward. You were then spun around and caught in one of his infamous headlock, his bicep and forearm squeezing on your throat. You tried to pull his arm down, clawing at him, but his lock was solid like iron. You felt his head get closer to you as he leaned in. 

“Now let them make you stronger”

Your chest heaved as you processed his words. _Let them make you stronger_. Thaelib fi alzalam has always rejected any kind of emotional ties or reasoning. She was always mechanical, precise and detached, efficient and never flinching. But being her was like being stuck in a perpetual fog, and the only time the fog had ever lifted was during those two years in the wood with Jason. In one way or another, he was always stirring up your emotions to the surface. 

_Let them make you stronger._

You grabbed his wrist, tugging down just enough to slip an arm in between you and him. You pushed him back as you freed yourself, then spun around and blocked his chest with your forearm. You backed him up and slammed him against the wall, staring right at him the whole time. He had a conspiring smile, and his eyebrows up with his own satisfaction.

“You’re not a faceless soldier in an assassin army, and you’re certainly not a Luthor either” He breathed, remaining in your grip. He looked like he had you exactly where he wanted. “You’re the _fucking_ Dark Fox. Embrace it”

It was like time had slowed down to a halt. Your heartbeat resonated in your ears, and the intensity of your stare matched his. Never had you seen anyone so determined and passionate, and it made all the doubts plaguing your head dissolve like plastic under acid. And just like that, your mind was made.

_Fuck the League._

You didn’t need to hide from your problems behind Ra’s. You were strong enough to face them, and you would no longer allow your life to be owned by anyone else than yourself.

_Fuck Thaelib fi alzalam._

She was obsolete, a product of lying to yourself and pretending you had forsaken the person you’ve have always been. She restrained you from your true potential, and kept you from experiencing the love you held for the people you cared about.

_Fuck Luthor._

He didn’t know anything about you or who you were. All he could do was try to confuse you to cover his own failure at creating the soldier he wanted. He was a coward and a power obsessed maniac, and you deserved way more than associating yourself with that pathetic excuse of a man.

_Fuck everything._

You gripped Jason’s shirt collar and crashed your lips on his. His response was immediate, kissing you back just as fiercely. One of his hand went behind your neck, the other arm circled around your waist to pull you flush against him. All the emotions from the last days, all the bottled up feelings of the last three years, all the passion and love still alive in between the two of you, all the silent longing for the other from your separate corner of the world; all of it came out through this kiss. While you were so close, so connected in such an intimate way, ou couldn’t help but think you should have left with Jason the first time around. You had missed the warmth and comfort of his close proximity way more than you had initially thought, and now you never wanted to let go. 

You paused to get some air, but you still remained inches from each other. He was panting just as much as you were, his eyes sparkling with a strange mix of smugness and relief. He wasn’t sure this pep talk would work, to be honest, it had a 50/50 chance of working. But he was just so fucking glad you made the best decision. 

“Fuck, I missed that” He breathed, stealing a few pecks. “I missed you. Welcome back”

You couldn’t help but chuckle, blinking slowly. “I never thought you’d ever be the teacher but here you are, pulling me back from my own head”

“My time has come at last” He grinned. “You know what that means, right?”

You raised an eyebrow.

“Lesson number one” He began, making you cock your head slightly to the side. “Self control is overrated”

He didn’t let you time to react before pushing his lips against yours again. Your hands went to his hair and gently pulled on it, eliciting a small moan from him. You felt his palms sneaking under your shirt, trailing up and down your waist like he was discovering you all over again. Your skin felt on fire under his touch, igniting every feeling of desire you’ve ever had for him. It was overwhelming in the best possible way. 

“Wait” He reluctantly pulled away from you. “Are you going to stay here? Or leave when it’ll be over?”

“Even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t be able to leave you, Jason Todd” You smiled, dropping your hand to cup his face. “Not again”

“Good” He mumbled, nodding to himself. He then gently pulled you against his chest, much to your surprise. You rested your head on his shoulder, circling your arms around him as well. His hold on you tightened, like he was afraid you’d be gone if he let go. “I’m so fucking glad to hear that”

“I’m tired of denying” You murmured against his skin. “You have me, for real this time. You have me”

He softly pulled your chin up to look in your eyes. He recognized the words, you had said them some years ago at the lake, a promise you had broken out of stubborness and false sense of belonging. This time, however, you meant the words. He was your home, you had always known but you truly realized it now. And wherever he’d be would be where you’d go.

“You mean it?”

“With every fiber of my being”

And you did. That afternoon, you completely gave yourself to him. You wanted, longed to feel that connection with him again, and this time, you were ready to tear down the last wall separating you two. 

For good.


	7. Chapter 7

You hadn’t had a lazy morning in years, and you had all but forgotten how good it felt. 

A single sun ray warmed the bed, making the temperature under the thin sheet just ideal. The slow, steady rise and fall of Jason’s chest under your head was soothing, as well as the random pattern his hand was drawing on your back. Usually, you’d have already trained and eaten by that time. Today, you had no intention of leaving the bed anytime soon. The last night had been spent making love so many times in so many different ways, you were both exhausted and happier than before. Jason was even wilder than you remembered (or he got even better?), so much you were still riding the absolute high you had reached. 

You traced his scars with your fingers; some old ones he had told you about, some you had put there yourself, and some others your had yet to know how he got them. You had a lot to catch up about.

“The last time we found ourselves like this,” You began, trailing your soft touch up and down the browned mark on his shoulder. It was as large as your sword, and a witness of the rocky beginning of your relationship. “I begged you to come back to the League with me”

He angled his head toward you. You could feel his eyes on you, half closed and relaxed as he’s even been. “But I begged you to follow me back here first” 

It had been a heartbreaking moment. The build up of the unanswered question for a whole year had lead to there. None of you had wanted to talk about the time his training would be done, you had rather wanted to keep doing your stuff and ignore the impending separation. That morning hadn’t been unlike this one, with the sun coming through the hut and with you both on the hammock, naked and intertwined under the fur cover. He had broken the silence, asking you to forget the League and stay with him. Back then, you were so sure you could only reach Luthor through it. So you asked Jason to instead join the League at your side. 

He had dressed up and left the hut, and you hadn’t heard from him from then until you crossed paths in Ukraine.

“I guess this is the fight you won” You smiled, flicking up your gaze to his. “Seeing as I’m here”

“The fight I won?” He raised his eyebrows. “Implying I didn’t win any other fight?”

“You did, but…” You teased, gently tapping your fingers up his collarbone. “Let’s face it, I still won most of them”

He gasped. “Excuse me?”

You smirked. 

Before you could see him move, he rolled on top of you and caged you underneath him between his arms. His eyes were narrowed in indignation as he channeled his mean face on. It once might have worried you, but it had lost most of its purpose now. _Especially since you were both naked._

“I’ve won _plenty_ of fights against you” He sneered. 

“Mhmm” You hummed, knowing all too well how he didn’t like to be challenged. You hadn’t poked at his pride in too long, so you couldn’t pass the occasion. “Sure you did”

“Have you forgotten what happens when the fighting range gets too small?” 

You simply blinked.

“Or when I truly got angry? Or…”

You cocked your head to the side as he halted his words. Then, understanding flashed through his expression. 

“You’re still riling me on purpose” He sighed.

“What did I like to say again?” You asked rhetorically, pausing for emphasis. “Ah, yes. When you’ll stop falling for it”

“I hate you” 

“Don’t blame me for being such an easy target” You rolled your eyes. “Now come here”

“Bossy” He finally grinned. “I love it”

He lowered himself so his lips touched yours and kissed you softly. However, the moment didn’t last long, as his cell phone vibrated on the nightstand. You could feel the shift toward annoyance in his mood, and it only grew when the phone vibrated one more time, and another one after that. With a long sigh, he rolled off of you and to the side of his bed. He frowned, then all trace of displeasure at the interruption wiped off of his face.

“What is it?” You asked, peeking over his shoulder. He shut off the screen immediately.

“You’ll see” He chuckled. “Get dressed”

“Ooookay” You nodded slowly, watching him throw his legs on the side of the bed and reach for his shirt on the floor. You put on your clothes from the day before and went for the guest bedroom you had, changing into something clean. When you got out, Jason was waiting for you leaning on the doorframe. 

“First though, breakfast”

You followed Jason, as you were still unfamiliar with the place. Sure, you had mapped the way from your room to the cave, and from the cave to every close escape around. But for the rest, you had barely the time or desire to explore. All this space was pointless to you, as you couldn’t figure out who would need all of this. However, it did provide a good way to avoid any Wayne during your stay, you’d give the manor this point.

But it didn’t allow you to avoid Bruce this time.

He caught you around a corner, and you three remained in a stare off for a few seconds. You knew it probably wouldn’t result in a fight, but your hand still hovered above the blade hidden at the back of your waistband. 

“I think you have overstayed your welcome here”

Jason gritted his teeth, but you remained calm. You had expected this.

“I will be gone by tonight” You replied on a neutral tone, then pulled Jason with you to side step him.

“One more thing” 

You halted your steps in the doorframe to the next room, turning your head to look at him. He hadn’t moved.

“I don’t want to see you in my city again”

“You must be fucking kidding me” Jason yelled, but you held up your arm to stop him from marching back to Bruce. 

“Absolutely not” He turned to face you. “Ever since she’s came, she has conveniently disclosed very precise information on the weapon’s whereabouts, except when it mattered. And hid her family ties to Luthor”

“You think she’s working with him?” He scoffed.

“I don’t know, is she?”

Jason glanced at you, about to reply something, but you just shook your head at him. It was pointless to try and convince Bruce Wayne, especially since you knew your word could never overturn your suspicious behaviour. He rolled his eyes and walked away, and you were about to follow him before you paused.

“I’m not” You spoke up, and you could feel Bruce’s eyes on your back. “If you must know, I’ve come here to kill him, and I don’t need your permission for that” 

With that, you walked away, not waiting for an answer from Bruce. You joined Jason in the kitchen, who was already working on cooking oatmeal. His jaw was still clenched, and his posture tense. 

“I can’t believe the fucking audacity” He grumbled. 

“He is entitled to his opinion of me” You shrugged and leaned on the counter next to him. “I don’t really care what he thinks about my intentions”

“Still” He sighed. “Are you still planning on finishing your mission?”

You crossed your arms against your torso and furrowed your eyebrows. You could just leave Batman and the others take care of it, and leave them to deal with Luthor. But again, you hadn’t came all this way to just give up. 

“Bruce was very clear on his stance about me remaining involved in this shitshow” You hummed, before glancing up at Jason. “But we do have a bio weapon to stop, and I’m far from done with Luthor”

His disappointment morphed into a grin at your words. “Attagirl, that’s what I like to hear”

“I most certainly don’t like to leave things unfinished” The corner of your lips lifted. “You okay with going against Batman’s orders?”

“Oh my dear” He chuckled as he poured the oatmeal in two bowls. He glanced at you with an excited glint in his eyes. “Nobody has a better record of disobeying him than I do”

“Good”

He put a spoon in each bowl and handed you one. “Now we need to have a game plan for what’s next”

“Any idea?”

“I sure have” His grin widened. “I want to show you something”

He motioned you to follow him as he ate his oatmeal mid walk. He got down to the cave and led you to a small side room, where he grabbed the tablet on the table. You slowly ate your breakfast as you watched him press buttons and mumble to himself. Then, he turned to you.

“You ready?”

You nodded, unsure of what he was talking about. He dramatically pressed one more button, making the wall in front of you turn on itself with a _woosh_. Your eyes widened as you took in the content of the compartment.

“So?”

You blinked at glanced at Jason. Your grin slowly stretched to match his. 

“Oh yeah” You nodded again, this time, with way more assurance. “This will definitely do”

—-

Jason heard Bruce coming from miles away.

Even if he technically didn’t, his course of action was so predictable that the Bat’s dramatic landing on the rooftop behind him was no surprise at all. 

“I thought I had made myself clear”

Jason stood up from his crouched position and turned to face him, arms crossed against his chest. “You did”

“Then what are you doing here?” He sighed in annoyance. 

“Well obviously you’re blaming your wrong intel and failures on someone who has nothing to do with it, which is a classic you” He taunted. “So we’re here to finish the job. Her and I really do work well together, thanks for noticing”

“Red Hood” He warned.

“Batman” He mimicked.

Someone landing next to them grabbed their attention.

“Red Robin” Tim announced himself under Bruce’s hard glance and Jason’s amused one.

“What are you doing here?” 

“Well, I knew something was up when I didn’t see Foxy in the cage all day” He explained. “So I followed you here. By the way, where is she?”

As if on cue, a shadow dropped behind them. The movement did no go unnoticed, and as if on instinct, Tim spun around and threw a shuriken. His expression quickly changed as he realized who was in front of him.

There you were, still crouched from your landing and holding his shuriken mid air inches away from your face. You were smirking under your mask as Tim stared at you in disbelief. 

“Twice” You spoke as you stood up fully. His eyes quickly scanned you from head to toes, almost overseeing you handing him back his shuriken. “Twice you have thrown one of these at me”

“Where’s the League suit?” He asked, slowly taking back his small weapon. “And you’re stupid bow?”

You shrugged, sharing a knowing glance with Jason. “I thought it was time for a change”

Then, understanding washed across his face. “Oh, oh my. You’ve dropped the League” 

He did another once over. You had ditched the heavy coat for a lightweight suit made of silk and leather, with armored plastic on the stomach, the upper arms and the back. The arm bracers had smaller spikes than the previous ones, and you no longer wore a heavy mask. Instead, you had only kept your half mask and wore a hooded robe crossing on your torso. Your grappling hook was now in your utility belt, and your arrows were replaced with sharper, more volatile darts kept in a sheath on your thigh. You now had 25 regular darts, five explosive and your two classic sedatives. Only your sword remained on your back, so it would “unclog your aesthetic”, as Jason had put it. 

You did like it better like that, the bow wasn’t your style anyway.

The new gear was still all black, for the exception of a silver kitsune draw into the back of the armor that would show if you took off the robe. It was comfortable and flexible, and resistant to bullets and stabbing. Jason had hit the target right on with the design. 

“Do you keep your wrist shooter?” He asked, squinting his eyes.

You raised your arm and shot over his shoulder to prove your point. He caught the small arrow mid air, nodding impressively. 

“Still the best part of the suit” He muttered to himself. 

“I thought you said you’d be gone” Bruce cut in. Your eyes went to him. 

“I still have a couple of hours” You replied without missing a beat.

“Talking about” Jason said. “Your time window just opened”

“You can either help us or stay out of the way” You told Bruce as you adjusted you comm. “But this is happening regardless”

He didn’t speak right away, taking a moment to ponder your words. Then, he voiced his thoughts. “Are you going to kill him?”

You held eye contact for a few seconds more before taking off. You ran along the ledge and jumped on the next building, then letting yourself slide down the fire escape. You chose not no reply to him, as you didn’t need to give him another reason to come after you. Granted, not replying was practically the equivalent of giving a positive answer, but at least it could give you the benefit of the doubt for what it was worth.

Using the shadows of the city, you quickly made your way through the blocks by the back alleys until you reached the imposing tower in the middle of the Diamond district, the same building you and Tim had sacked for show barely a week before. Whatever damage you had done, it didn’t show anymore. It was like nothing had happened. 

This time, you came in by the front door. The second you walked through the glass doors, all activity stopped. You took a few step forward, and four guards met you halfway in the lobby. Without a word, they escorted you past the front desk and through the metal detector going off like crazy. Anytime you could have easily gotten rid of them, but you held back for now. You waited a short time for the elevator, then got in and up to Luthor’s floor. He was waiting for you by the window, and turned around with a smirk once you got in his office. You pulled back your hood and unclasped your mask.

“I see you’ve got a new look” He pointed out. “Changed your mind about the league?”

“Something like that” 

“Well, I’m most certainly pleased to see you’ve decide to do the right thing” He took a step forward. “This is where you belong”

Slowly, you reached for your sword and took it out. A shadow passed across his face, and nodded to something behind you. Or rather, someone. You dropped to a crouch to avoid the tazer being stuck in your back–once was enough–and thrusted your sword in the legs of the guys around you. You rolled forward and shot the four guards coming your way, before jumping on the desk and holding them in your aim. Luthor now had four new guards around, letting you know more would come if he needed. You reloaded your crossbow.

“I’m disappointed” He revealed with a sigh. “Those were good men”

“Let it be a reminder I can and will take them all out if they’re in my way” You twirled your sword. “Step forward and none of them die with you tonight”

“How noble” He chuckled, not concerned at all. His hand rested in his pocket and his stance was relaxed. “Did your boyfriend with the red helmet tell you to do that?”

You shot an arrow to his knee, but he easily side stepped it like he had predicted that move. He raised an eyebrow.

“I see” He hummed. “But I had expected you would deny your destiny. So I decided to help you make a choice”

Four more men came in the room and ran at you. You vaulted over them and landed behind them, taking them by surprise. Before the could fully turn around, they were on the ground. You wiped your sword in the crook of your elbow and faced Luthor again. He was watching, unwavering, almost out of the door. He was stalling, that was clear, but you didn’t know for what yet. He smirked again, and you knew he’d finally reveal his thoughts.

“Now I know you won’t back down like last time” He taunted, and your jaw clenched. “So I guess you can come at me now, tear through my guards and get to me…”

You narrowed your eyes, knowing there was something more coming. He wouldn’t make it that easy for you to get to him.

“But like I said, I had expected trouble from you, like your mother before you” He sighed sarcastically. “So I prepared a backup plan. I decided to launch my weapon sooner and instead use it elsewhere, since you forced my hand. In twenty minutes, it will discharge quite literally the plague in the city aqueduct”

You tensed, your hand going to your ear to your comm and turning it on.

“Ah, I don’t think telling your friends will work” He tsked. “The only way to stop it is through my genetic code”

“Therefore mine” You concluded.

“Smart” He mocked. “Yes. So you can either kill me here and get it over with, or you can run around and save a bunch of people, and miss your shot. Again. But you don’t have the time to do both, I’m afraid”

You calculated his ultimatum, and he was right. If he kept the men coming, it would be enough to stall you too long for you to go from the diamond district to the aqueduct. He had planned this move carefully, knowing he’d get a win in either case. 

“Don’t worry, the cure is ready to go, there won’t be much casualties” He brushed off. “You came here to kill me, didn’t you?”

You flexed your fingers on the hilt of your sword.

“Do it” He challenged. “That’s what you are. You were made to finish what you started, to stop at nothing to get what you want. This is how I made you, even if I disapprove what you’ve done with my gifts. So go ahead, kill me and prove me right”

He was almost in your face now, staring right at you. You straightened your back and levelled up with him, feeling something strange, yet not unwelcomed, swelling in your chest. You thought about Jason and what he said, about those civilians you saved from a certain death, and about the man in front of you. Seeing him from so close, you realized every ounce of anger you held toward Luthor was… Gone. You thought with him so close you would be tempted to fight him, but all you could feel was indifference. He didn’t matter to you anymore, he never should have. He represented your insecurities, and tried to drag you down with him to excuse his own failure in making you a copy of himself. You became aware he was a pointless chase, and you had better things to do than indulge in it. 

“I’m the Dark Fox” You jutted your chin up, squaring up your shoulders. “Don’t _fucking_ tell me what to do”

You turned around and jumped over the desk, grabbing an explosive arrow and throwing it in the window. You jumped through as it exploded, plunging down the building. You pulled out your grappling line and hooked it on your shooter, then aimed for the roof. It slowed your fall midway, and you used your glove to slow yourself down. 

As your feet touched the ground, you saw Jason’s motorcycle pull in in front of the building. You put back your sword in its sheath and your mask on your face, then your hood up. 

“Aqueduct, we’ve got fifteen minutes” You spoke as you climbed on the bike.

“Yep, I heard everything” He had a grin in his voice. Yet, he didn’t go yet.

“What?”

“I am so fucking proud of you”

You felt your neck heat up as you looked down, even if he couldn’t see you, in fact, you were glad he couldn’t. You never knew his praise would make you react that way, or that you would be so important for you to hear it.

“And for the record” He added. “It was very hot, too”

“Fucking hell, Jay, go!”

“Fine” He sighed and sped away from there.

“ _Okay so what is your thing with jumping out of windows?_ ” Tim said through your comm. You had no idea he had stayed.

“It makes me feel less dead” You replied, and Jason audibly laughed. 

“ _You madwoman_ ”

“Since you’re here, I have a task for you” You said. “Could you pull out the files on the weapon and figure out how the failsafe works?”

“ _I’m already on it_ ”

Then, a bullet barely grazed your shoulder. The sound followed closely after, but it was like in slow motion. You raised your arm to protect Jason’s shoulder, letting the bullet hit your arm brace instead. Reacting quickly, you turned around facing backwards and shot an arrow through the gun aimed at you. You then noticed five motorcycles following you, probably tasked with taking you down.

“What’s going on? How many?”

“Keep driving” You ordered. “I’ll take care of this”

You shot another arrow, but it bounced on the body of the motorcycles, and from your position you couldn’t aim elsewhere. You emptied your arrows to get one good shot, and it was enough to take one down. But looking at your recharges, you only had ten darts left, and potentially more people to take down around the bomb. You looked down, then up again to the guns aimed at you.

“Fuck it”

You reached for one of Jason’s gun on his thigh and clicked the safety off. Then, you shot.

“Holy shit” Jason yelled, and you could only imagine his expression. “HOLY SHIT”

“ _Did… Did Foxy just use a gun?_ ”

“I wish I could have seen that” He whined. “I am so turned on right now”

“ _Too much information Jaybird_ ”

You clicked the safety back on and turned around again, then slipped the gun back in his holster. 

“I thought you thought guns were disgraceful” 

“I kind of still do” You smirked under your mask. “So don’t get used to it”

“You’ll at least do it once when I look, right?”

“Hmm, maybe” You hummed.

“ _Aww, aren’t you two the cutest_ ”

“Shut up Tim” Jason warned.

“ _Alright then, I won’t tell you what I found on turning off the weapon_ ”

“Speak, Tim” You contradicted Jason’s order.

“ _First you have to apologize for throwing me out of a window_ ”

You thought for a moment before answering. “No”

“ _Then no intel_ ”

You sighed. 

“Let’s compromise then” You suggested. “I will not apologize because I am not sorry, but for the intel and not telling on me after you found out who I was, I will consider not pushing you out of a window again”

There was silence radio, then he spoke again. “ _Good enough for me. There should be a code pad, I decrypted it and the code is 0000. Yes I know, but then you’ll see a slit, and you gotta put your left hand in it. It’ll read pulse, heat, fingerprints, and more. Since you should share all of this with Luthor, it’ll stop. Or it’ll explode, that was unclear_ ”

“Well that’s reassuring” Jason grumbled. 

“Alright, we’re almost there” You rolled your eyes. “Thanks”

“ _See ya later_ ”

You turned off your comm and reloaded your shooter minutes before Jason pulled in the aqueduct yard. He parked his bike and you both easily climbed the barbed wire fence, and even though the place looked deserted, you remained careful. Luthor wouldn’t have left his device without surveillance. You grabbed your sword and fell in step behind Jason, who had his guns up. Then, he halted his steps and held a hand for you to do the same. You had this feeling you were being watched, and you could only imagine he had it too. 

“Get ready” Just as he said that, bullets began raining over you. “Go find the weapon, I’ll cover you!”

You held an arm up to protect your face and disappeared into the darkness. You kept running along the walls of the building, allowing you to get in undetected. You reached the main water room, where you could see from the upper platform about eight guards surrounding the very device you had been hunting. The countdown indicated 2:37, so you had no time to lose.

You jumped over the ramp and landed quietly on your feet behind the men. You approached the first one and swung your sword around to let it rest on his neck. You used him as a shield as the other guards noticed you, blocking their bullets. You raised your arm and shot your five darts at them. You pushed the dead man off of you and faced the two remaining guards, taking a fighting stance and swirling your sword at them. Before they could start shooting again, you lunged and knocked their guns out of their hands. They kept fighting around you, trying to get to you with punches and kicks. But they were sloppy and predictable, and even after one fetched a small blade from his belt, they were no match for you. You glanced at the countdown, and it almost reached the one minute mark. Your eyes then trailed on the two guards around you, still trying to get the upper hand. They both extended their arms at the same time for a hit, so you dropped to a crouch.

Like you did during training with Bruce and Damian, you sweeped your sword in a quick motion. Unlike them, however, your current opponent weren’t quick nor skilled. The blade of your katana sliced their knees, making them collapse on the ground. You quickly reloaded your last round of arrows and sheathed your sword, then made your way to the device. You easily found the locked pad and entered the code, then pulled off your glove and stuck your hand in the slit. You pressed the button and watched as the biometrical scan began. 

You heard noise behind you as backup reached the room, and without taking your hand out, you turned your body and aimed. The first five men fell, but there were still five coming your way, so you reached for your shurikens in your belt. But you didn’t get to take them out as other, all too familiar shaped shurikens reached the goons first. You sent a deadpan look at where you noticed none other than Red Robin standing there smugly.

“Oof, I hope you didn’t have dibs on them”

“I had it handled” You replied. 

“I’m sure you did” He smirked as he walked past you and took a look at the countdown, then at the weapon. His expression turned grim. “Twenty seconds”

The scanner was still working. 

“If it doesn’t work, you’ll have to slice the pipe off” You said, analysing the situation. Cutting the water and flooding the building would bring less casualties than letting the virus flow in the water system.

“What!?”

The system unlocked. You quickly entered the command to stop, and the countdown halted. You pulled your hand back and put on your glove again, then grabbed an explosive arrow. You planted the dart in the slit and backed up, pushing Tim with you. Soon enough, it went off and the weapon went up in smoke. 

“Phew, that was close” He blinked. “Well played”

“Motherfucking Dark Fox!” Jason dropped from the platform at his turn. His helmet was off and he had a wide grin on his face. “That’s what I call making a difference! The League could never”

“That was really cool” He nodded in approval. “By the way, what happened to, you know..?”

“Did you do it?” Jason’s eyes were now on you, his grin not so intense now.

“He’s gone” You said, but it didn’t help ease the questions in their eyes. “As in, I don’t know where he is. I let him flee to come here instead”

Jason’s eyes widened. “And you’re fine with this?”

You shrugged. “It doesn’t matter to me anymore. His time will come, like everyone else. I just won’t be involved when it does”

“That was unexpected” He whistled. “But hey, what goes for you goes for me. Love the new mentality”

“Killing him was what the League would have wanted” 

“That’s nice. Good choice” Tim nodded. “So you’ll stay here then?”

“Well, not here, since bats and foxes apparently don’t get along” You snorted as you unclasped your mask and pulled back your hood. “But I’ll be around”

“About that, how does Blüdhaven sounds?” Jason chimed in again, sliding a hand around your shoulder. You raised your eyebrows at him “I’ve got a pretty nice place there, and it’s technically not Gotham”

“That won’t be necessary” A deep voice came from behind you. You glanced over your shoulder where the massive shadow of Batman stood. “I’ve seen you work tonight. You acted good, I can allow you to stay in Gotham as the Dark Fox”

Jason coughed in surprise as you blinked, then turned around. 

“Thank you” You began, nodding respectfully. Jason’s wide glance was now directed to you. “But no thanks. Besides, I still don’t need your blessing to stay, or to be me”

Bruce stared at you blankly, not moving or commenting. Your guess was that he wasn’t expecting this answer, or at least not delivered this way.

“Oh, B” Jason mocked as he put back his helmet. “Nice try. Anyway, we should get out of here before the cops show up”

You put back up your mask and hood and followed Jason out, waving at Tim on your way out. You left the aqueduct and waited until you were further into the city before ditching the bike and finding a rooftop to station yourself on, just in case you were being followed. The masks and helmets came off once again, and you took a moment to breathe the air from up there. It was a clear night, with a good wind chasing the clouds away. Jason observed the city lights with you, crouched on the ledge. Then, you heard quiet shuffling behind you. You spun around, then held Jason back when he was about to lunge. You kept your eyes on the outline of the figure in the shadows, knowing all too well who it belonged to. You took a few steps forward.

“You look different” Talia smiled. “A good different. I’m glad you finally found yourself” 

“Thank you” You lowered your head. “For allowing me”

“I only want the best for you” She stepped closer to you, her smile never wavering. “Has he taken good care of you?”

You both glanced at Jason for a moment, and you chuckled. “He has. He was gentler than I’ve been to him”

“I figured he would” She winked. “You two were meant to be”

Your smile dropped as you looked down. Surely, she would know what it meant. Her sympathetic eyes fell on you and her hand rested on your shoulder. You had chosen to part with the League, therefore, with her. It would be the hardest part for you. 

“You don’t have to explain” She reassured. “I knew this would come to this, and I am here to free you”

Your eyes shot up.

“I talked with my father” She explained. “Seeing your unwavering service for all these years, he has agreed to relieve you from your duties to the League. All he asks in exchange is for you to remain out of the League’s affairs, and he gave his word he will not come against you or your family”

“Really?” Your voice was barely above a whisper. 

Her smile was encouraging as she nodded at you. Slowly, you took off the black robe, exposing the silver fox on your back. Then you took out your sword from the sheath in your hands, kneeled and offered it to her. She took it and held it upright in front of you, just like the day you had been initiated in the League.

“In the name of Ra’s al Ghul, I release Thaelib fi alzalam from her servitude to the League of Assassins” She spoke. “Your debt has been paid and your bounds are no more. Rise”

You got back on your feet, your breathing hitching in your throat. You reached for your sword in her extended arm, looked down at it and putting it away again.

“Thank you” 

“You’re very welcome” Her hand went to your cheek. “If you need anything, don’t hesitate to reach out to me. I will be there for you”

“And I for you” You gave her a genuine smile. She offered her arm, and you took it at the elbow like she did. Your foreheads touched for a few seconds before you pulled away with a step back. 

“It was nice to see you again, Jason” 

“You too, Talia” He nodded with a small curve on the corner of his lips. 

“Take care, children” She said before disappearing in the darkness again. 

Jason approached you and took your hand, gently pulling your around to face him. He had this glint in his eyes, it was full of relief and happiness like you had never seen on him. To be honest, you were feeling the same way. It was like a burden had been lifted off of your shoulders, and you had never felt lighter. Sure, it brought you uncertainty to navigate without the League’s guiding hand, one you had relied on for most of your life, but it felt right. You knew Jason would help you like you had helped him, and things would start to look up from now. 

“So, what now?”

“I don’t know” You chuckled. “It’s the first time I don’t need to follow any agenda. I’m kind of lost” 

“Ah, this calls for the return of Teacher Todd” He grinned. “Lesson number two, you get to learn what fun and freedom taste like”

—-

The grass was high as your mid thigh and small bugs swarmed up with every step forward you took. You didn’t mind though, you prefered it ten folds to the smog of Gotham.

For Jason, however, it was a different story.

He was sweating and grunting, and even if he was behind you, you knew he was getting annoyed by the flies and mosquitoes around. He was swatting his hand wildly and you could tell he was slightly regretting sharing his suggestion to you. The sun was high, and even for the end of the summer it was surprisingly hot. 

“Ugghhh” 

You rolled your eyes, but didn’t stop.

“Are we there soon?” He asked. “Jeez I had forgotten how far was that thing”

“Come on, stop lying to yourself” You teased as you spotted a familiar path up a small hill. “You like this”

He scoffed. “It reminds me of my ass being kicked”

“As I said” You smirked over your shoulder, and he raised his eyebrows at you. 

You climbed up the small hill and came face to face with a small, half decaying structure with the roof caved in by the elements. Moss and grass was growing on the outside of the round walls, but the feeling of home you had subconsciously associated with it was very much intact. Jason stopped behind you, his annoyance completely gone and replaced by fondness over the sight in front of him. There were so many memories tied to the small hut, some bad but mostly good, and it was like you could feel them all at once. You dropped your bag on the ground and took a deep breath.

“So, was the trek up here worth it?”

“Fuck yes” He sighed in amazement, his eyes never leaving the hut. “I missed this place so much”

“Even if we had to work hard for survival?” 

“Being here alone with you far outweighed any inconvenience this place brings” He stepped closer to you, his arm wrapping around your waist. _Who would have ever thought?_ His nose nuzzled on your neck and your relaxed in his arms. “We’ll still have to do a bit of renovation around though”

“I hope you’ll help me this time” You looked up at him innocently. Last time you had built the hut alone before Talia had brought Jason, and even if he had been there, you would have absolutely not trusted him to help you with anything

“But you’re so hot when you work” He pouted. “I wanna watch and enjoy the view”

“And how would you make up all that work to me?” You asked, then you felt him smile on your skin. A smile full of mischief and promises. 

“Oh, I have plenty of ideas” 

“Oh me too” You grinned, stepping out of his arms, then you winked at him and disappeared in the hut. Only one hammock was still up, the other had fallen on the ground due to broken ropes. Stones of the small fireplaces were kicked in and weeds were growing around. The kitchen supplies were scattered around the makeshift shelf, but otherwise the place seemed to have been left untouched by human activity. Jason followed suit and took in the damages. 

“Do you think we can still both get onto this hammock without the ropes breaking?” He asked, side glancing at you. You rubbed your chin in wonder, then hummed.

“There is only one way to know for sure” You tilted your head to the side. You nodded at each other and he walked around you, with you in tow. He carefully lowered himself first, then opened his arms for you. You joined him, and waited for a few second to test the resistance of the ropes. You heard them creaking and straining, but you were still hanging. You relaxed, and barely a second after, the ropes snapped.

In a blink, you were on the ground, and both of your weights made the wood give in. You ended up in the dirt, directly on the forest floor. yOu remained in silence for a moment blinking at each other.

“Well” You sighed. “The hammock could not support us both”

“Alright, there _is_ a lot to do” He conceded. “How about you fix this baby, and I’ll gather the wood for the fire, hunt dinner and get the herbs for tea?”

“That’s more like it” You said as you stood up and dusted off your pants. You offered a hand to Jason and you pulled him up with you. “Do you remember where are the bows and arrows?”  
  


“In the bark of the oak facing the boulder, yeah” 

“Good” You chuckled. “I wasn’t sure you’d get it right”

“Come on” He groaned playfully. “I was quite a good student”

“Oh not at all” You laughed, taking a step in his personal space and looking up at him. “The worst, actually. You’re lucky you learned fast, or we’d still be there”

“Then I should have dragged my training on purpose” His lips hovered above yours. “You’d still be my incredibly unforgiving yet very hot teacher, and I your wild, stubborn and irresistible student”

“Hmm, does another sword in your shoulder sound good?”

“Only if I get to face you hand to hand”

“You’ve got yourself a deal” You whispered, before backing away abruptly. He blinked in confusion. “But it’ll have to wait. It’s almost sundown and we need to be installed by then. So get your sweet ass out there and stop distracting me here”

He sighed. “Why do I like it so much when you order me around?”

“I have no idea” You tapped his chest. “But the quicker we prepare everything, the sooner we can go to the lake for a swim under the stars”

He perked up at that, and with wide, excited eyes, he shot out of the hut faster than you could register. You chuckled and leaned on the threshold, lazily crossing your arms against your chest and taking a deep breath. You stared outside for a moment, enjoying the breeze and the sound of nature surrounding you. It was peaceful and beautiful, taking it in fully. 

Then, you got to work. 


End file.
